Horizons
by Linhae
Summary: A week into the reign of the second Pirate King, the World Government has a final ace. Reaching far beyond the edge of even Nami's world map, this is only the beginning for Lin... CH21: In which Smoker switches sides. Oh hell.
1. General 'Before We Get To The Good Part'

**Full summary:**

**Monkey D. Luffy is the Pirate King. Roronoa Zoro is the World's Greatest Swordsman. Nico Robin has found the Rio Poneglyph, etc. The crew has accomplished their dreams, and a week after Raftel they sail to the East Blue. Sengoku knows he's lost, but he's got one last ace up his sleeve. He has a plan, and it goes far beyond the boundaries of even Nami's world map, reaching all the way and pulling back Lin, a girl from our own world who only happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now in the midst of her favorite manga, Lin has no clue on what to do when offered a place in the Pirate King's crew. Nothing left to do, really, except find her way over the horizon to either home, the Grand Line, or a whole new adventure of 'other worldly' proportions... Language. No romance. Post Raftel. Oh Lordy.  
**

Congratulations, you've stumbled into Horizons. My first tribute to the amazing category of One Piece.

For an amazing professional adventure, go to Will of D. For a real LOLing good time, go to Ruth Monroe: Not Your Cup O' Tea. For an adventurous post-Raftel story that still features the Straw Hat pirates...

... Go to Endgame: All Blue in Seven Courses. Or you could hang around here. :D This story is one of those usual 'girl falls into One Piece and joins the Straw Hats', but I've taken the ultimate liberty of her arriving the week after Luffy finds One Piece. This is actually based on a comic I once read a long time ago, somewhere in the Danny Phantom category. It was the idea of multiple universes colliding and various heroes and-(NOT SPOILING THINGS) and I couldn't actually write this plot in my head without introducing an OC to join the crew. :X

So yes, Lin _does_ join the crew. But no, **Lin is _not_ the absolute focus of this story**. I can not stress this enough. It's an OC-insert, but **only on the side**. It's actually focused on a post-Raftel plot of the World Government and... well, you need to read it. It starts out slow, but then everything goes **BAM**.

This is also an AU, granted. We all know that there are more than likely many more new characters to be introduced to the One Piece cast, and even more nakama to be introduced into the crew. Do you know what this means? I have declared anything that happens in the New World to be irrelevant to this fic, besides basic placement of islands and some characters. You'll see. I _do_ have a plan.

**But I ask that you at least attempt to read this story to how far it's gotten, and _then_ you could judge this humble little story! If for some reason you feel the need to drop Horizons mid-chapter because of something I've added that may offend or bite, _please let me know_ before you drop it like a hot potato and hiss at your monitor! I can't help myself if I don't know what's wrong! I'm attempting to improve my writing with each passing chapter, and my improving flexes with each review telling me what's okay, what's gone weak, what's my strongest point, and that means so much to me!**

Disclaimer Time!

I do NOT own One Piece or any of Oda-sensei's characters! Just Lin. And this odd plot. I've _never_ seen a post-Raftel OC-insert. Ever. This scares me. Hasn't anyone else considered the idea? ... Anyone?

* * *

**"Now then, give me that horizon."**

**~Captain Jack Sparrow**

Somewhere, sometime, an eighteen year old girl was walking down the street. A girl with dark hair under a black cap and a weird strip of blond hair running down the side of her face. A girl wearing navy blue jeans, black boots, a blue shirt, black jacket, and black fingerless gloves. Not that you care.

Dudes and dudettes, this is Lin.

Lin was walking down a sidewalk in a town that shall not be named. She was walking with a brown backpack with a small keychain of a pokéball on it. She was walking with her head facing down and a blank expression. Not that she was depressed- oh, no. She was simply thinking. Really hard, and about silly things, but only thinking.

Her feet were on autopilot as she steered down the street, the route from school to the library practically engrained in her head. Lin managed to snap out of her daze as she walked into the old building, a slight smile on her face. It really was her favorite place, from the brown bookshelves lined with novels to the racks practically stacked with newspapers (though they were rarely updated; the latest was from six months ago). And today, she was a bit more excited about her trip than usual. Not that _you_ can tell.

Giving a small wave to the receptionist, she made her way to the row of computers and quickly logged in her card number. As the familiar home page booted, she could only wonder what was next. You know what I'm talking about; Lin was reading One Piece. And it was time for the weekly update, and Lin had met each chapter with equal enthusiasm for the past year. Today was no different, and she read each panel thoroughly until she had finished.

Lin closed the window and typed in another address, but the connection seemed to be on the fritz-flickering on and off, it was impossible to get a decent signal. Lin sighed as she stood and began to walk around, deciding to try later, after all, she had the whole day to herself before she returned to her apartment. It was Friday, and next week was Spring Break. Senior year at high school was the hardest, and she welcomed any kind of break whole-heartedly.

Lin slowly walked along the shelves, taking her time as she took in the titles one by one, forgetting them almost instantly as she continued down the row.

Pausing slightly, she picked up one book that stood out. _'Batman comics, my favorite'_. Grinning at her luck in finding the particular set, she practically flew to the counter in her haste to claim the book before someone could make a call to reserve it (because that happened quite often).

Lin walked up to the counter to check out her find, nodding in acknowledgement to the receptionist, before rummaging through her backpack for her card.

"Evening, Lin. Find something good?" Lin presented the card with a flourish as she grinned in response. "I did indeed, just as I was considering calling in for it, too!" The man could only shake his head as he took the card and checked out the book. He reached under the counter as he picked up a One Piece book and placed it next to her hand. "Yer order came in; I don't suppose you'd be wanting to check that out?"

"Always!" Lin practically snatched the book away from the desk, almost forgetting about the Batman book in her haste. After some mental redirection from the receptionist, she walked upstairs to sit at her favorite chair and read her books.

Only to find it was occupied. A tall, thin man was sitting right in _her_ chair, at _her_ table in a fixated position, reading a large volume that almost made Lin's head hurt at how professional it looked.

Still scowling a bit at the loss of her favorite seat, Lin decided to instead sit at the second farthest table from the usual bustle of people, which was usually occupied by a stocky senior lady that could almost always be seen there with a thick book on the table and drool dangling precariously off the edge of her lips. Usually. But today was surprisingly dribble-lady free, so Lin gladly took one of the chairs and immediately began to read the latest American One Piece comic collection.

She had already read what had happened, granted. But it was nice to see the words of her favorite characters not nearly as distorted as on the online scanlations. She was about a quarter through the first chapter when a cough caught her attention and she looked up with a start.

Sitting across from her, drool-free, was the same lady that usually occupied the table. Lin quickly detected an interested gleam in her eyes and resigned herself to the fact that she would not be finishing her books before the library closed; she would instead be conversing with the woman in front of her until the receptionist saved her. Steeling herself and pushing her hat above her eyes, she politely said "Hello." The woman grinned, though not nearly as toothy as it might have been twenty years ago. "Hello."

Lin waited until she was sure she wasn't going to continue. "How are-"

"How are you?" Lin twitched. "As a matter of fact, I'm great!" the woman continued, ignoring Lin's glower. "Not many people seem to care in this town, but you come in here every day, always reading One Piece, if not Batman." Irritation forgotten (and replaced with a bit of creep-out factor), Lin stared at the woman who only smirked at the look in her eye before continuing.

"You seem to be in a great mood too, eh? Ah! No need to answer! I can see it in your eyes." The woman seemed to have a bit of a cackling fit at this. By now Lin was quietly putting her books into her backpack, slipping it on her back in preparation of escaping the crazy old woman.

"Hah-HAH! But my point is, deary..." Before she could finish, the book she was holding had slipped to the floor, tumbling under the table. Lin automatically reached down and grabbed it when she noticed something other than gum or graffiti under the tableside.

A small, round hole was bored into the table. From her angle, she could see right through the hole into a... blue sky? Did skies even get that blue? Shifting her cap and leaning a bit closer, she felt a small breeze blow by her, chilling her slightly. Lin was so transfixed by the small hole she barely noticed that it seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, the color blue wrapping her vision until there was nothing else to be seen, nothing to be felt but the cool wind, nothing to be heard but the cackling of the woman as she began _falling_. And screaming; there was much screaming as she realized just how far off the ground was.

* * *

Woop Slap was greatly annoyed. He was greatly annoyed at many things. Being the mayor, half of said things were trivial to the average villager and need not be explored. About one eighths were a result of the grinning man in front of him, who had been separated into his own category after recent events. The rest was from Monkey D. Luffy, a boy who had shipped off in a rowboat two years ago with a hat, a grin, and a dream to become the greatest. Now, as the villagers prepared for his returning party (although the mayor was sure that no amount of preparation would save them) the 'guests' had started arriving.

Starting with the grinning fool practically towering over him, Akagami no Shanks. Many of the older villagers easily remembered the man from twelve years ago, and were thereby amused with the ongoing argument. The rest were staring nervously at the man and silently begging the pirate to leave them alone. But every single one thought the mayor was crazy for standing up to one of the Yonkou, although they all had different reasons for such thoughts.

Said all-powerful pirate turned and smirked at his first mate, Ben Beckman, before turning back to the diminutive man before him. "Aw, come on mayor! You know how much this means to us! We haven't seen our little anchor for years! Besides, you let us stay without this much of a fuss last time!"

Woop Slap tried to look as intimidating as he could with his height, (and his name) before growling up at the pirates before him. "I already told you! Luffy's grandfather, **Garp. The. Hero.** Is coming to see Luffy too! The last time Garp got into a fight with a man of your strength he DESTROYED HALF OF THE TOWN! And it was Marineford, one of the most heavily guarded places in the world! If you two got in even one little fight our entire island would be blown away!" Shanks could see where the man was coming from, but he could also never let Luffy down.

Shaking his head at the man in front of him, he argued "But we won't get in a single fight! You have my word as a captain! Even if the geezer attacks us first (and he most likely would), we won't raise a finger! C'mon, we _need_ to be here for Luffy!" The pleading look of a child on a grown man's face was almost too much to bear for Woop Slap. But it was that same look, thirteen years ago, that had gotten the man in his town for what he had claimed to be 'one quick drink'. And look at where they were now. Luffy had just become the Pirate King because of this man, and no amount of begging was going to break the mayor down!

The mayor opened his mouth to tell the man every logical reason for not allowing him to stay, but instead resorted to what he would tell Luffy in his younger days. "The day I'm struck by a flying girl is the day you get your way!" Woop Slap was quite content with the shocked look on Shanks' face.

Shanks, however, quickly thought of a solution. He was about to explain his logic to the man when loud screaming drew his attention to the sky. And no amount of sailing on the Grand Line could prepare him for what happened next.

A girl, about eighteen years old, was indeed falling from the sky. She had brown hair with an odd streak of blonde in it, and a brown backpack on her back. She was also clutching a black hat to her head and a thick book to her chest. And that was all anyone could see of the girl before she landed.

Right on top of Woop Slap.

The crowd could barely believe their eyes; about ninety percent of them (logically) wondering what the hell had just happened while the other ten percent (ten times as logical) thanked their lucky stars that such an event had never happened while Luffy was in town. Shanks took one look at the unconscious mayor, briefly glancing at the unconscious girl, before he turned to his men with a carefree grin on his face, casually filing away the events as a 'Mystery'. "Men, looks like we can stay!"

As the men cheered and scrambled off the ship for the Party Bar, Shanks looked a bit sheepishly at his first mate standing next to him. Ben sighed in resignation."... I'll take care of the mayor."

Shanks sped down the road before his irate comrade could even consider changing his mind. Deciding that revenge could be saved for later, Beckman picked the mystery girl in one arm and the tiny mayor in the other before turning to the nearest gawking bystander.

"Which way to the doctor's?"

* * *

I must say, that landing scene looked a hell of a lot funnier in my head. -;; Remember, this is only my prolouge! I _please_ ask that you read at least as far as I've gotten before completely judging this story! Or at least review and let me know why you just couldn't swallow this story!

Oh, and one more thing: **There is no romance**. Subtle (which I fail at) hints of pairings and consequential teasing? Maybe. Funny moments that make people slap their foreheads? YESH. Actually getting together? No. Never.

Hey! Where are you going?


	2. Chance Meetings

Wow, only one review and two favs (though oddly enough, no story alerts... Hm.) Oh well, I didn't like the prolouge that much anyway. :D

In other news, I do not own One Piece! I hope you guys like this chapter!

* * *

**"Friendships are what our dreams are made of. We hold onto each other with its binding love. We stand close to each other, hand in hand, showing each other we understand."**

**~Unknown**

Nami took pride in her navigation skills. After all, it was she that steered the crew towards Raftel, the one island in the entire world that had been unreached for twenty-five years. Of all of her nakama, only she, Robin, (and maybe Usopp or Franky) had any basic sense of direction, with Nami being the only one they trusted to navigate in a straight line.

So when _Luffy_ had asked to steer the boat to an unknown island, the one man with a sense of direction to rival Zoro's incompetence, her first instinct was to pummel any such stupidity from his mind. But no matter how many times she beat the man, he was so set on his idea that she eventually made a deal with him. After some thinking, she had walked up to him and stated her conditions. "All right, Luffy. You can take us on our... err..."

"Mystery trip!" He had chimed in (not so) helpfully. Nami could only sigh and continue. "But I'm not giving you free reign! You can tell us where to go and I'll do everything logical to get us there, understand?!" She turned back to the captain only to fly in a rage when she saw where he was. "DAMMIT, LUFFY!! WHAT DID I JUST SAY??? GET AWAY FROM THAT HELM, YOU'RE GOING TO STEER US RIGHT INTO THE RED LINE YOU DUMBASS!!!"

And so, it was amid much captain-bashing and marine-evading that Nami had successfully steered the Thousand Sunny into the East Blue.

She wasn't quite sure at first; after all, the only 'north' they had been going by for the past two years was the next island. But when she had taken out her old compass, she had found that they were indeed heading north from the calm belt. And Luffy was still grinning without a care in the world as he pointed directly north.

It was around when they reached Dawn Island when things started getting interesting. Chopper, who had lived in the Grand Line his entire life, was excitedly asking Nami how a compass worked. Franky and Usopp were working together on an unknown project while Robin was contently reading a book she had recently purchased. Brooke was gazing distantly, his eyes shadowed as he thought gloomily of old friends (though he had no eyes-YOHOHOHO) and Zoro was keeping watch in the crow's nest.

Sanji was in the kitchen finishing the final touches on their dinner. Luffy was staring ahead at an unknown destination, grinning with a tad more excitement than usual. Nami finally couldn't wait any longer as she waved away Chopper ("Don't you have some medicine to make?") and casually walked up to the figurehead to talk with Luffy.

"Ne, Luffy?" Luffy turned to grin at his navigator. "What's up, Nami?"

"With the direction we're going in, we'll be at Dawn Island by tomorrow morning. Is that where we're headed?" Luffy's rubber abilities were the only thing keeping his face from splitting in half from his grin. Laughing in delight, he hopped off the figurehead and stood in front of Nami. "Shishishi~! It was gonna be a surprise, but I can't wait to tell you! We're going to visit our homes again! But we have to get to Fuchsia Village by tomorrow, because that's when the party is!"

"Party?" But then Sanji called everyone in for dinner and Luffy was gone faster than you could say "Meat."

* * *

Lin groaned, attempting to rub her headache away as she slowly sat up. After a bit of cradling her head, she opened her eyes slowly only to stiffen in surprise.

_'This isn't my room,'_ she thought to herself, taking in the various medical tools scattered in what seemed to be someone's bedroom. She herself was sitting in a small bed, with her hat, jacket, and gloves sitting nearby on a dresser. Her backpack was sitting near the door, and a large brown book that Lin didn't recognize was lying on top of it. Carefully pulling herself out of the bed, she pulled on her things and put the book in her backpack.

Lin carefully tiptoed down the hall, noting to herself that it seemed to be dark outside, and stopped as she reached a small living room.

There was a small man lying on the sofa with a cold press on his head and another man holding a stethoscope to his chest.

The man appeared to be in his late thirties, with spiky black hair and baby blue eyes. The man was dressed in a semi-professional doctor's coat with long sleeves, and was conversing with the other man on the couch.

Before Lin could think of a way to approach them, a high-pitched voice drew her attention. "Wah! Sky-nee-san! You're awake!" This also appeared to startle the other two, who immediately turned their attention to Lin.

Turning to glare at the voice, her gaze immediately softened when she saw a small girl, only about five years old. Touched at being called 'nee-san' and thrilled with the general idea of any small child, she bent down to the girl's level and hugged her. "You're so cute!!"

And cute she was. With short-cropped dark hair and wide, innocent amethyst eyes she made the most innocent face. She was dressed in a small lab-coat (which was still way too big) and had a stethoscope around her neck. In all, she was a doctor wannabe and easily one of the cutest kids Lin had ever seen. The girl didn't seem to mind the attention and hugged Lin back, making her almost squeal out loud.

Finally releasing the girl, Lin looked up to see the two men standing above her. The doctor seemed amused while the other man (who /really/ looked familiar) seemed irritated.

After a bit of silence, Lin gave a small "Hello."

The doctor coughed slightly and held out his hand.

"I am Dr. Ookami Yamada and this is my daughter, Asuka."

"I'm Woop Slap and I'm the mayor of this town! Why the hell did you pummel me?!"

"Now, now, Mayor-san; I'm sure she didn't mean to fall from so high up, let alone on top of you."

"Well thanks to her antics, that blasted pirate snuck into town! As if we didn't have enough to deal with!"

"You can't really still be upset about Lu-"

"I'm the mayor and that brat has destroyed _my_ town's reputation! We were perfectly content until he screwed everything up!"

Lin watched the exchange in confusion before a small hand tugged at her jacket. Smiling down at the girl, she said "Asuka is it?" The girl nodded.

"You still need to rest. I also need to check your vi… vittles? Vigor?" Lin could practically feel the sweat drop on the back of her head. "Err… vitals?"

"Hai! Vitals!" And with that the cheery girl dragged Lin back to the room, leaving the two adults to continue arguing.

As they reached the bedroom, Asuka pointed to her jacket and gloves, which Lin took off. Asuka immediately pressed the stethoscope to Lin's heart and listened, nodding to herself with a comically serious expression. With her eyes almost crossed from concentration and her tongue sticking out, it was only sheer will that kept Lin from hugging her again.

As Asuka hung her stethoscope around her neck again, Lin tried to start a conversation. "So, Asuka… Where am I?"

"You're at my house, Sky-nee-san!" Lin looked at her oddly.

"And why do you call me that?" Asuka shrugged. "Cuz the mayor said that you fell from the sky! That's how he got hurt… And one of the pirates brought you guys here!" Asuka's eyes seemed to sparkle with awe. "He was so cool! And he wasn't even the captain! Daddy said that he was also here twelve whole _years_ ago, before I was even born! So he asked us to take care of Mayor-san and… What _is_ your name?" She finally stopped shining long enough to tilt her head in confusion. Lin giggled.

"My name is Lin, but…" Then Asuka's words seemed to kick in from earlier. "What do you mean I fell from the sky?!"

"That's what we would like to know." Lin gave a start and turned towards the door, where Yamada and Woop Slap were standing. Yamada spoke up first. "Apparently, you fell from the sky and landed on top of the mayor here. No one in town seems to know you, so we can only guess where you came from." Lin's head started to hurt.

"But… I was at the library! I was conversing with a senile old lady and then…" Lin tried to remember what happened next, but between the headache and the three staring at her, she could barely remember even that much. Pressing her hands to her aching temples, she finally asked "Where am I?" Dr. Yamada spoke up first.

"You're in Fuchsia Village, home of the second pirate king, Monkey D. Luffy."

* * *

"Luffy, where the hell are you taking us?!" Luffy stuck his tongue out at the infuriated Nami only to bite it a second later from Sanji's kick. "Don't disrespect a lady!"

"ITEEEEEE!"

"Wah, Luffy!! Someone! We need a doctor!!!"

"BAKA. You are the doctor!"

"Yohohoho~! Chopper-san seems to be quite beside himself with excitement! My heart can barely take the stress! Although I have no heart… SKULL JOKE!!!"

The throbbing cluster of veins was the only indication of Nami's acknowledgement of their stupidity. They were all walking through a forest (Luffy had insisted that they anchor Sunny miles away from any town) and the sun had barely risen three hours ago. Walking alongside a mountain with barely any indication of where they were going was really not helping the navigator's already short temper.

At dinner last night, Luffy (after eating more than his fair share) had told them that they were going on a 'Mystery Trip', and they had to walk at least ten miles from where they were going to anchor in order to get there. Zoro, Robin, and Franky had shrugged with indifference, while Sanji was torn between swooning at the thought of Robin-chwan and Nami-swan needing any assistance in walking and beating the living daylights out of Luffy for suggesting such labor. Chopper and Brook seemed to sparkle at the prospect of the unknown while Usopp seemed to catch 'Can't-go-on-any-hazardous-journey-itis', which Chopper proclaimed would soon pass and was not, in fact, lethal.

Nami, choosing not to mention Luffy's mention of a party, had simply stated that there would be a ten million beri fine for anything that went wrong and went to bed, but not before pummeling Zoro for his mutter of "Greedy witch." Sanji, who seemed to understand that Nami could punish Zoro himself, muttered his disbelief at how such a pathetic marimo became the World's Greatest Swordsman not too long ago. This immediately degraded into a fight, which only ended with Robin saying that all the noise would wake up Navigator-san. Sanji and Zoro immediately quieted down, Sanji out of respect and Zoro out of self-preservation.

They had been walking for about five hours when Zoro (who was pulled back in the right direction more than a few times by Luffy) spotted a small village ahead. Luffy grinned like his namesake before breaking into a run, dragging Zoro by his collar. Nami twitched dangerously "Luffy! Don't leave us behind when we don't know where you're going!!" And with that, the rest of the Mugiwaras ran after their energetic captain, with Nami, Zoro, and Sanji yelling the entire way.

"Luffy! What did I just say!?"

"Get back here and listen to Nami-swan you shitty bastard!"

"Why the hell are you dragging me!?!?"

"You were going right back into the forest, marimo!"

"Shut up ero-cook!"

By the time they reached the center of the town, Nami had successfully caught and dragged the captain back to the group. She then proceeded to beat the man within an inch of his rubbery life. As Nami was occupied, Robin finally spoke up. "Navigator-san, have you noticed anything strange about the town?" Nami stopped beating Luffy long enough to see what Robin was talking about. Chopper ran up to the barely conscious Luffy and immediately started checking his vitals as Nami walked up to Robin, while Zoro fell asleep leaned up against a water fixture.

"Now that I think about it, there hasn't been a single villager, has there?" Luffy bounded up to the girls, completely ignoring his previous beating.

"They're all waiting! Come on!" And Luffy picked up Nami, ignoring Sanji's death threats, and ran off in another direction. The group ran after Luffy (with Chopper dragging the still sleeping Zoro in Heavy Point) and found themselves in front of a bar, with the title 'Party Bar' overhead.

Luffy grinned at the crew before setting Nami down (who immediately bonked him on the head) and opening the doors, revealing half of the village sitting in the bar with drinks in their hands. "Yosh! I'm back!" Luffy yelled. A bartender with long dark green hair smiled warmly at them as a random villager shouted,

"Oi, mina! Our anchor has returned!"

"KENPAI!!!"

* * *

Hm, I like this chapter a bit more than the last one. The crew's general interactions always crack me up, so sorry if I don't do them justice.

I am inspired by reviews! They are the mana of general get-to-it-ness! They are my spoonful of sugar! THEY ARE DEPENDENT ON YOU! Even if it's just to tell me how much I suck, I really appreciate them!

I typed in Samantha and Danny into a Japanese name generator and I got Asuka and Yamada. Why? Because I just watched a Danny Phantom episde recently and the reference was too tempting to pass up.

Read and Review!

**Edit: Fixed this one too, just more spacing errors and such really.**


	3. Reunions

Dude, my update streak is amazing. I'm not sure I like how this chapter turned out, but oh wellz.

I should probably re-evaluate my statement that Ace lived through the Marineford incident, but you know what?? I'M IN DENIAL DAMN YOU ALL!!! Ace is going to be fine, Ace is going to be fine *huddles in corner muttering much like Sanji about his poster*

I'll probably remain in denial until the end of the arc, and I'll edit out any Ace-is-alive references if I feel like it later. Don't bother trying to bring me out of my denial, I went to five different chat groups one hour apiece before they all gave up.

I don't own One Piece. Would I really be _here_ if I did?

* * *

**"Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts."**

**~Anonymous**

Lin sat on the edge of Asuka's bed, bored out of her mind. Asuka had apparently been treating her as her father had been treating the mayor. Asuka was a charming girl and all, Lin thought somewhat sulkily, but what obligation was she under to have to babysit her?

Asuka sat on a small chair across the room facing her, mirroring her bored expression. Lin was officially given a clean bill of health and now that Asuka had no one to doctor, she seemed to be just as sulky as Lin about their abandonment.

So Lin had all the time in the world to pout about her predicament, childish behavior or not.

After the doctor's statement of her location (and the mayor's declaration that it was _not_ okay to tell strangers about the town's shame) Asuka had asked the all important question that Lin suddenly dreaded.

"So, Sky-nee-san, where _did_ you come from?"

And that was a question Lin herself could barely answer. What could she say? She had read plenty of good (and bad) fanfics on what to do when entering the world of One Piece, but she sure as hell didn't know if this was a hit-by-truck, eaten-by-book, or a sucked-into-parallel-dimension scenario. Lin could barely ponder this before she realized that the others were still expecting an answer. So she gave them the most truthful answer she could.

"I don't know."

There was a bout of silence before the mayor snorted his disbelief and the doctor spoke, cutting off any further rudeness. "Do you not remember?" Lin shook her head.

"It's not that I don't remember, it's the problem of I'm not sure of what the name of my home means around here. I live in the country of the United States of America. The nearest oceans are the Pacific and the Atlantic, and the only villages are half-way around the world. The U.S. is a country that is over nine-and-a-half million square kilometers.

"A village where people speak the same language and tell me I fell out of the sky, when I am completely UNABLE TO FLY, somehow tells me I'm not in Kans- err, California. Ergo, I have no idea."

Dr. Yamada and Woop Slap exchanged an odd glance while Asuka stared at Lin with stars in her eyes. "Sugoi! So you're an alien?"

Lin blinked, not noticing the adults converse in the background. "I don't think I am... Wouldn't an alien not be able to live on earth? More of a trans-dimensional human, I suppose." Asuka's nose scrunched up as she tried to process the idea. "... Sky-nee-san, so you're a boy?"

Lin stood quickly, waving her hands frantically in the universal sign of 'cease and desist.' "NO. What you're thinking of is _transvestite_, I'm a girl human that comes from a copy of-" Lin wisely snapped her mouth shut, remembering her audience. Gathering her skills from tutoring small children as she baby-sat them, she instead stated "It's a mystery Asuka. A complete mystery."

And she patted the small child on the head before turning to the two adults that were, once again, arguing. "OI." They stopped long enough to let Lin stare at them curiously. "So what's a Pirate King?"

The next few hours were then spent explaining to Lin all the stuff she already knew, and some things she didn't. From Gol D. Roger to the devil fruits to the Grand Line, Lin only perked up when the words 'second Pirate King' were mentioned. Yamada ran a hand through his messy hair as the sunlight peeked in through the curtains of the living room they were sitting in.

"Monkey D. Luffy, two years ago, set out to be the next Pirate King like almost everyone had done for the past twenty-four years. We thought little of it, he was no more than the town's freak with an astounding lineage and weird powers; he didn't even live in the village itself! But just a week ago exactly, a newspaper came by that our own anchor had claimed One Piece for his own! Makino then remembered that Luffy had told her that he would return one week after Raftel to celebrate. And so the whole village is preparing for him and his nakama, with a big party that will happen in three parts."

Asuka had fallen asleep on Lin's lap long ago, and Lin listened as she absentmindedly stroked the girl's hair from her face.

Yamada held up three fingers, tapping the first one as he spoke. "The first part of the party is for the men only. Every man will head down to Party's Bar, one of Luffy's favorite hangouts, and greet the crew first with a good, old-fashioned rum party." Yamada seemed to grin feral with anticipation as he tapped his second finger. "The second part (not to be held until late afternoon tomorrow) is a potluck, with the entire village participating in it. Luffy has a legendary appetite along with the rest of his family, so we can only imagine what kinds of people he has on his crew and their appetites and hope it'll all work out."

Finally, Yamada tapped his third finger, a puzzled look on his face. "The part three is something that Shanks said he'd work out. Apparently the man's partied in every corner of the seven seas, so we can only assume whatever he has planned will be amazing."

All of a sudden, Yamada had seemed to realize the time and had rushed out the door while the mayor (whom had fallen asleep on the couch) chased after him shouting about how they were to stay indoors, hence the current situation.

Asuka had woken up after the door slammed, leaving Lin with a small, sleepy girl and nothing to do until the next day but pout about being stuck in another universe.

And she was determined to pout until the cows came home, whatever the hell that meant.

-------------------

Roronoa Zoro had woken up at the very scent of alcohol, picking himself up from the ground and rushing into the bar, brushing past a gob smacked crew. He had ordered sake and was mechanically downing his glass before he realized that he was drinking next to Akagami no Shanks, the only Yonkou the crew had yet to run into.

"ACK!!" Was the only noise Zoro made before realizing that Luffy was the only one that had joined him indoors, and the rest of the crew was standing outside with shocked looks on their faces (minus Robin, nothing seemed to affect her though).

Giving a weary glance to the pirate sitting next to him (one glance at the glaze in his eyes and the redness of his cheeks confirmed there would be no fighting anytime soon) he spared a glance to his captain that was being slapped on the back by random villagers as he made his way to the bar (they had parted like the Red Sea for the Pirate Hunter). Shrugging to himself, Zoro grabbed his glass and walked up to the crew, staring at them with a raised brow.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Sanji seemed to break out of his trance as Chopper latched onto Zoro's leg, nearly cutting off any circulation.

"The hell is wrong with you, moss-head?! We found out that our captain was planning a party with what seems to be his own village and a Yonkou! Where the hell were you??" Zoro merely held up the glass as he tried to at least loosen the reindeer's tight grip, a bored expression on his face. "Booze."

And he turned and walked back into the bar, his stupidity wakening the rest of the crew as they cautiously followed, sweat dropping at him.

Zoro drained his glass as he sat on a barstool, careful not to squish the petrified doctor. As the green-haired woman refilled his glass, he bowed his head slightly in thanks. "Got any juice for this guy?" he asked, casually lifting Chopper by the scruff of his neck and seating him on the stool next to him. The woman nodded with a small smile at the doctor, who hid in his usual non-hiding way behind Zoro before he put him back on his seat.

Chopper, indignantly, demanded "Zoro! I'm a man! And men and pirates don't drink juice!" Zoro shrugged as he downed another glass. "They drink juice when they have an important job to do that can be needed at any second… And when they can barely hold any amount of liquor." Chopper could only sigh in defeat (relief) as he took a small sip of the glass that was handed to him, shyly smiling at the bartender.

Finally, Luffy reached the bar with a wide grin on his face. "Makino!" The bartender refilled Zoro's glass and walked around to the other side, scooping up Luffy in a large hug. "Luffy! Congratulations on becoming the Pirate King!" Luffy squirmed out of her grip as the rest of his nakama reached the bar, laughing. "Shishishi~! Makino, I want you to meet the rest of my nakama!" Suddenly, the man next to Zoro stood with a drunken grin on his face, his arm held out for a hug. "Anchor! Where are your manners?! Don't you have any respect for your elders?!"

Luffy laughed as he launched himself into Shanks. "Shanks!!! You're here too! You gotta meet my nakama too!" Wrapping his arm around Luffy, Shanks let out a hearty laugh as he whirled with Luffy still clinging onto him, his glass of sake (almost) forgotten.

Nami smiled at the sight of her captain being whirled around like a little kid, his hat almost flying off due to the drunk man's acceleration. The rest of the crew stood there awkwardly, unsure of how to react to one of the most powerful people in the world whirling around with a pet name for their captain.

Finally setting Luffy down, he turned with a flourish of his cape, giving Robin a short glimpse of a stump where his left arm used to be. Shanks grinned at the puzzled look on their faces "So, Anchor, you gonna introduce them or not?" Luffy grinned at his childhood hero before turning to his nakama at the bar. Zoro, who had nearly depleted an entire barrel of sake by now, sat with his back against the bar, leaning causally with Chopper attempting to hide behind him. "That's my first mate, Zoro! He's the greatest swordsman in the whole world! And that's our doctor, Chopper! He can cure _anything_ and he can transform into _seven different forms_!!!" Chopper immediately jumped into Zoro's lap, dancing about how he was _not_ happy at all with his praise, and Luffy was a bastard of a captain for even _thinking_ such blasphemous thoughts. Zoro merely grunted at Shanks before drinking another glass, putting Chopper back on his seat. Shanks looked a bit puzzled at the doctor's actions before Luffy laughed loudly, turning the man towards the rest of the group. Makino smiled warmly at the two and refilled their glasses before also turning to the rest.

Luffy pointed to Sanji, who was standing a bit off to the side. There were no women in the bar save for Makino, and Sanji considered it a bit of a taboo to hit on his captain's apparent mother figure. "The guy sulking over there is Sanji. He makes the best food of all! Especially when he makes meat!" Sanji, who was indeed sulking, merely nodded politely at Shanks before sitting at the bar next to Chopper. "Mellorine…"

Luffy pointed to Brooke, who seemed almost as down about the lack of obtainable women as Sanji. Almost. "That guy is Brooke! He's the greatest musician in the whole world! Plus, he's almost one hundred years old!" Shanks chalked his appearance up to the alcohol. After all, skeletons didn't move, let alone play instruments, right? Said skeleton walked over to the stool next to Sanji and ordered some tea from the puzzled Makino, looking down with a sad look on his boney face (SKULL JOKE!). "Panties…"

Luffy laughed at his nakama's despair before pointing to Franky. "This is Franky! He built our ship and he even built himself! He's a mental man!" Franky slapped a massive hand to his face while Robin giggled slightly. "That's _metal man_ lil' bro. I'm a _cyborg_. And I built our SUPER ship! **OW**!" And Franky danced to an imaginary tune with Robin laughing at him and Nami rolling her eyes. Luffy cheered for Franky before Shanks ruffled his hair, reminding him of the situation.

"Ah, right! And this is Robin, she's an arsonist!" Robin chuckled slightly while even Franky paused in his dancing to stare at Luffy.

"Dude, she's an _archeologist_." Luffy nodded eagerly. Franky continued. "She happens to be pretty smart too, and she can read the ancient text. SUPER amazing, really." Franky nodded to himself before ordering some cola from the giggling Makino. Robin and Nami giggled to themselves as Luffy chuckled slightly.

Usopp, who had cautiously wormed his way to stand by Zoro, then held his elongated nose high and introduced himself. "I am the great Usopp-sama! But my eight-thousand followers call me CAPTAAAAA-" A sharp poke to the head interrupted him, and Usopp glared at the offender. Zoro shrugged and drank another glass.

"Don't lie, Usopp." Shanks appeared to have a start, and he glanced questioningly at Luffy, who grinned and nodded. Shanks gave an odd glance to another corner of the bar before shrugging and deciding it could wait.

Luffy continued. "He's our sniper and liar! He also invents really cool things!" Usopp stuck his nose in the air at the compliments and launched into a detailed explanation of his beloved weapon, holding it up in the air. After he realized no one was listening he pouted, Sanji patting him on the back, and ordered sake as well. Robin joined them shortly and sat next to Franky, ordering some coffee.

Finally, Luffy turned Shanks' attention to Nami, who was staring at the drunken villagers' pockets with a greedy expression on her face. "This is Nami! She's our navigator and thief! She made a map of the entire world and she's really smart! She doesn't like it when anyone touches her mikan though…" At this Luffy seemed to wilt slightly, downcast at the one food that was off limits to him. Nami giggled at her captain before reaching a hand in her pocket and handing him a small orange, which Luffy devoured in a split second. Luffy cheered before Nami interrupted him with a sly smirk.

"That'll be ten thousand beri!" Luffy squawked in indignation, tripping over air as he glared at his navigator from the floor.

"Meany Nami…"

By now, Shanks was laughing so hard he was clutching his side with his arm, about ready to join Luffy on the floor. Finally composing himself, he grinned at Makino with a knowing smirk, which she returned with a warm smile.

Meanwhile, Luffy was arguing with Nami on the unfairness of her prices. Nami finally ended the argument with "You didn't have to eat it in the first place." Luffy's eyes widened and he wilted, unable to counter. Satisfied that Luffy would get the money to her soon, Nami walked up to the bar to start a conversation with Makino.

Luffy finished sulking and grabbed Usopp as he conversed with Shanks. Usopp let out a very unmanly yelp as he was dragged to the Yonkou, who was staring at him with an unreadable expression. Luffy was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Usopp! Remember what I told you about your dad?!" Usopp's eyes widened as his words slammed into him, an almost desperate tone in his voice as Shanks called for his own sharpshooter.

"W-what are you talking about?" Luffy grinned as a man pushed his way over to them from the corner of the bar, a bandanna on his head with a name that Usopp had only heard in his mother's stories. Luffy called out to the man.

"Yasopp! Guess who my nakama is?" Yasopp's eyes widened as he focused in on Usopp's long nose, an easily recognizable trait from his mother.

"U-Usopp?!"

"Dad?!"

* * *

Not my favorite, but I'll probably fix it later... Probably.

Review and correct, punish, abuse, or flame me!

**Edit: I fixed it. Not much, but just some spacing corrections and such. :D**


	4. Search Parties

This particular chapter was inspired by two fics. "A Sniper's Challenge" by Smudgeandfrank. And "Toddler Troubles" by Clarobell. Both have a distinct Usopp and Yasopp relationship in them. Plus I do love a chibi Zoro. :D

I don't own One Piece, do I seriously have to point that out?! Stupid!

* * *

**"You hate someone whom you really wish to love, but whom you cannot love. Perhaps he himself prevents you. That is a disguised form of love."**

**~Sri Chinmoy**

"But Sky-nee-san-"

"No."

"You didn't even hear what I was going to say!"

"I think I have a pretty good idea, so my best bet is a no."

Asuka pouted, making Lin sigh, her face softening. "Look Asuka, we'll get to meet them all tomorrow. If you sneak out today, and your dad catches you, he might not let you go tomorrow! Even if your dad _didn't_ catch you, you wouldn't be able to properly greet even one of them! And how would you know which one is the doctor anyway?"

Asuka merely folded her arms and turned away. Lin sighed, unable to convince the girl with logic. Lin had been perfectly fine with staring off into space (as she often did) and was nearly asleep from boredom when Asuka had tried to go out the door.

Lin knew that she would be held responsible for anything that happened to her. And going to a bar full of people that were determined to get drunk until the next day did not seem healthy for a five-year-old. Lin finally sighed, drawing Asuka's attention as she pulled up her backpack on her lap. "Hey, Asuka. Wanna see what I got in here?"

Asuka was still thrilled about Lin's apparent alien status, and was most definitely eager to see any otherworld artifacts she might have. Nodding, she hopped onto the bed next to Lin and watched as she carefully unzipped the bloated bag.

It was a normal-looking backpack, with the standard three pocket system; one large pocket, one medium pocket, and one small pocket in the front. A pokéball keychain was attached to the front pocket, and Lin marveled at how its annoying habit of falling off didn't occur when she fell on the mayor. Looking in the smallest pocket, she pulled out three objects with a flourish, like a magician putting on a show.

Lin nodded to herself at the objects: a calculator, a multi-tool, and a small bag of cookies she had recently purchased. Handing the cookies to Asuka (who practically ripped the bag open in delight) she inspected the multi-tool for any damage. Not finding any, she slipped the tool into her pocket as Asuka held the calculator in her hands, experimentally pushing some buttons. Lin was glad that she had had the sense to buy a solar-powered calculator; she didn't think they sold cell batteries in One Piece.

Gently removing the calculator from Asuka's hands, she pressed the on button and smiled at the look of wonder on Asuka's face at the numbers. "This is a calculator. It helps me multiply, divide, and add up numbers for my homework." Asuka looked at Lin curiously.

"Homework?" Lin blinked, now that she thought about it, the only schools she had seen in the anime were fighting dojos, and those weren't exactly mandatory. She shrugged; no school was more than okay to her.

"Where I come from, kids at the age of five are sent to school five days a week for twelve years." Asuka's eyes couldn't have been rounder.

"You went to school for twelve whole _years_?" Lin nodded.

"Actually I'm almost finished with my twelfth year. And most people have to go to school even longer if they want to have a good job. Like being a detective, inventor, doctor…" Lin trailed off at Asuka's somewhat stricken face. She hurriedly continued "But that's only because twelve years of school makes people go on overload with all the information. So they have to go to school to learn mostly about what they want to do. Besides, even the doctors that go to school for _twenty_ years are pretty stupid sometimes."

Asuka merely pushed a button on the calculator, staring at the number that appeared. Lin tried a different tactic. "You know, you can make those say funny stuff sometimes." Lin said casually, taking the device away and pressing a few buttons. Turning it upside down, Lin held out the calculator to Asuka who giggled at the text 'hELLO'. Asuka smiled up at Lin, who smiled back warmly. "I bet I can make it say 'doggy' too…"

* * *

Usopp stared at the man in front of him with a shell-shocked face, unable to take in the provided information. Yasopp had a similar expression, unable to believe the irony of his son standing before him. He opened his mouth to say something.

What he was going to say, we may never know.

Usopp, with a look of utmost fury on his face, had punched his father in the face in the blink of an eye, sending the elder sniper on his bum from shock. The entire bar had gone silent at the hit, Luffy and Shanks having unreadable expressions on their face. Usopp's nakama stared at him as he trembled, staring at the man sitting in front of him with shadowed eyes before turning on his heel and running out the doors. Even Zoro had watched the scene with mild interest.

Chopper suddenly wailed as he ran after him, breaking the silence with his cries. Shanks silently pulled up Yasopp from the ground, who was rubbing his eye with a numb look on his face. Luffy made eye contact with Robin, who merely nodded and hastened out the door after the two.

Sanji looked out the door like he wanted to join her, but understood this was neither the time nor place. Brooke and Franky, the other two members from the Grand Line, stared at Nami for an explanation as Zoro had immediately gone back to drinking, albeit with a somewhat slower pace. Nami gazed at the doors before turning to them, not quite understanding what had just happened. Yasopp slowly made his way to them with a solemn expression, ordering some sake from the quiet Makino. When he had sat in the stool Chopper had previously vacated, he swirled his drink around before chuckling bitterly.

"I suppose I deserved that." Zoro paused in his drinking while Nami leveled her gaze at him.

"What do you mean?"

Yasopp shook his head. "I'm not exactly a good father or husband, in the way most people would think. After all, I left Usopp and his mother when he was just a tot, and I never really got around to visiting them…" He trailed off with a far off gaze as he downed the alcohol. Nami, however, seemed confused about something.

"Usopp has a mother?" Yasopp turned his gaze to her sharply as she continued.

"Usopp had been living on his own when we met him." Yasopp's horrified look was Nami's only indication of something being wrong before Zoro interrupted in a flat voice, borderline emotionless as he simply stated

"Usopp's mom died years ago."

* * *

"ASUKA!!! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" Lin was practically screaming as she tore through the house, searching everywhere for the small girl. She really should have known better, in hindsight. When a child wants to sneak out, distracting her with a flipping game of _**Hide and Seek**_ was _not_, I repeat _not_, a good idea. Lin had at first thought the girl was a good hider, but when she found the front door open she nearly had a heart attack. Of course she should have expected such treachery; the girl had refused to listen to logic and was adamant about sneaking out. The sight of the front door must have been too much for her.

Lin grabbed her backpack and practically tore out of the house as she yelled for Asuka, in her panic forgetting that she had no idea how to get around, let alone return to the doctor's house. It was after about five minutes of pointless yelling and running (and drawing the attention of other small children as they peeked at her through curtained windows) that Lin finally collapsed from exhaustion, simply lying on the dirt road as she fought to catch her breath.

"Damn it Asuka… Your dad's going to kill me."

* * *

Robin, being a former assassin of the Grand Line, was used to tracking down people; she did it for a living. The only difference now was that usually, she would follow up any chasing with an extremely gruesome and savage death. Chopper was panting as he tried to catch up to Usopp, but while the crew had monstrous strength, no one (except maybe Sanji) could catch Usopp when he was running. And the boy had taken off like a bat from hell.

Robin finally caught up to the panting Chopper who lay on the ground in Walk Point, tongue sticking out comically with his legs splayed out and his chin on the ground. Robin simply crouched in the dirt beside him and patted his head as he tried to calm down.

"Doctor-san, could you track him by scent? He can't run for much farther and will likely collapse from exhaustion soon."

Chopper attempted to stand up on shaky legs before returning to his usual form, wobbling slightly. He shook his head before replying "I could, but the dust is getting into my nose from breathing so hard. We'll have to wait until it settles, plus he runs pretty far before he has to stop." Robin smiled slightly at him while he relaxed, taking in his surroundings. There was a brief silence before Chopper spoke up. "I wonder why he did that…"

Robin could only wonder herself. The scene reminded her of when she had first met her own mother. When, in the surrounding chaos and burning down of everything precious to her, she had met the one woman she looked up to. She knew she couldn't blame Olvia for disappearing for so long, but she could only imagine the betrayal she might feel if her mother had instead gone off on trivial reasons while Robin suffered for so long.

But, this wasn't Ohara, and Usopp's father perhaps had less than easily identifiable reasons for leaving him for so long. So instead Robin watched their surroundings, a die hard habit, and blinked when a faint cry of "ASUKA…!!!" came and a black-clad figure raced down a road in front of them only to collapse in the very same manner that the doctor had previously done.

The figure mumbled something as Chopper hid ineffectually behind Robin's leg, sweat dropping at the odd sight. Robin inspected this newcomer with a bit of interest; after all, the only villagers they had seen were quite drunk. But this girl seemed to be a bit different, if not down right strange. Robin crossed her arms across her chest and two extra arms flipped the girl on her back. The girl's hat fell off revealing a curious blond strip of hair than right down the front of her face in contrast to her apparently natural brown hair coloring. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she appeared to be catching her breath. Chopper gave her a once over before nodding to himself. "She's okay; I think she's just been running around too much… EEP!!"

Lin had suddenly sat up with a start. She had apparently sensed something was wrong when ridiculously strong arms had flipped her over, but the prospect of _hooves_ prodding her and an adorable childlike voice seemed to be too much. Gazing about with an alarmed expression, she seemed to freeze up at the sight of the petrified reindeer hiding behind an all too familiar woman.

"What the hell?!"

* * *

Usopp ran until Chopper's wails had died out, and even then continued to run until he had reached the edge of the forest. He stopped under a large tree and sat heavily underneath it, panting from exhaustion.

And he called himself a brave warrior of the seas. Usopp scowled bitterly at himself, but whenever he thought of his mother a blinding fury came over towards his father. He was still the man that she had placed all faith in even when she had died, but he could only remember his countless years of running through the village, screaming that his father was coming back, wishing so desperately it were true even when she was gone…

Jeez, he needed to clear his head. Usopp shook his head at himself before getting up and walking towards the town. A simple walk.

Usopp stared curiously at the empty streets as he strolled along, hands in pockets. While they had seen what seemed to be all of the men in the tavern, where were all the women and children? He could have sworn he heard a faint yell in the distance, and immediately scurried to a nearby alley, crouching without a sound. He slowly counted to fifteen, and then peeked his nose around the corner, slowly…

"Is she gone?"

"ACK!!!" Usopp practically leaped ten feet into the air, twisting awkwardly to see that there was, in fact, a small girl crouching behind him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he was about to say something when a faint cry of "USOOOOOOPPP!!!" reached his ears.

Well, time to go. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small grappling hook, which he expertly swung onto a nearby roof. He was about to climb up when the girl clung to his pant leg, tears in her wide eyes. Usopp winced at the look and scooped up the girl with one arm while scurrying up the rope with the other. Maneuvering her so that she was clinging to his back alongside Kabuto, he then leaped from roof to roof to escape the voices, the little girl having a delighted expression the whole time.

* * *

Lin breathed heavily with wide eyes as she stared at the two in front of her. The tall, raven-haired woman seemed to be waiting for her to say something. _'Robin.'_

The small reindeer (although from this point of view she could see how people could confuse him with a tanuki) was ineffectually hiding behind her leg. _'Chopper.'_

She knew these characters so well, and now they were standing in front of her. Lin didn't quite trust herself with words as she slowly picked up her hat, brushing away any dust. _'Keep it together. I'm not supposed to know who they are. But for the love of sugar, __**DON'T ACT LIKE A MARY SUE!!!**__'_

"Um… Hi."

"Hello." Chopper slowly came out of his hiding place as Robin looked down at Lin. Lin stood up, dusting off her pants and jacket. She seemed to be trying to look anywhere but at them. The atmosphere was awkward, to say the least. Finally, Chopper came out and asked

"Um… Have you seen a guy pass by here? He has a long nose and giant slingshot strapped to his back." Lin shook her head. _'Why are they looking for Usopp?'_

Lin picked up her backpack from where it had fallen off and checked it for any tears, still wondering why her keychain hadn't fallen off yet. Straightening her hat, she asked "Have you guys seen a little girl pass through? She's about as tall as the reindeer with black hair and purple eyes."

Chopper immediately wriggled with delight at being referred to as a reindeer. "Hee hee! Asshole! *clap clap* I'm not happy you know I'm a reindeer, *clap clap* bitch!" Lin sweat dropped.

"What have I gotten myself into…?"

* * *

My, my. Chopper has such a potty mouth when happy... He does, in fact, clap when he does that dance. Cute!

In other news, I am so tempted to make that keychain into an actual pokéball and just make a pokémon Lin's fighting style. Please comment on that. I'd also like to hear your guy's favorite pokémon!

Review yo. Review.

**Edit: Fixed this too! Again, not too big, just some spacing and awkward wording.**


	5. Cookies

I was looking back and I realized that I posted this story originally on a _Sunday_, not a Monday! My bad!

I'd like to give a great big shout-out to SilverStar94! You totally rock my fellow Dudette! Plus she's writing an amazing story herself about the Strawhats going to present day England! I really liked this story, it's totally in character with an amazing OC that is very well developed.

Also, I was reading the 'Gorgon Zolo: Ace Attorney' series by Amaxing. It was a purely humorous, Zoro-centric story that has _**Zoro**_ as an **_attorney_** under the alias of Gorgon Zolo! I spazzed out when I read it and actually finished this chapter on Friday! But I didn't want to deviate away from my promised weekly schedule so I waited as I started the next chapter.

In other news, I changed the summary! I like this one a lot better, and I hope it attracts a few more readers... Plus, you guys may or may not notice, but while the One Piece characters do use the occasional Japanese phrase, Lin does not. Why? SHE'S NOT JAPANESE, OBVIOUSLY! I used to use Japanese phrases when I talked, but then we got a Japanese exchange student. Nothing makes you feel more stupid than trying to sound Japanese in front of someone that is actually from Japan. I do say 'Oi', though. But it isn't necessarily Japanese.

I don't own One Piece. Simple, stupid, unfair, and real. But Oda-sensei is pretty cool, even if he did kill off Ace... WHICH I DENY!!!

* * *

**To cement a new friendship, especially between foreigners or persons of a different social world, a spark with which both were secretly charged must fly from person to person, and cut across the accidents of place and time.**

**~Cornelia Otis Skinner**

Robin had preoccupied herself with calming the little doctor, leaving Lin to her own thoughts. Probably not the best idea, really, seeing how in the sense of 'spacing out', Lin was a freakin' space cadet. But that is another issue. Right now, she had other thoughts on her mind. _'Why am I here? Why are_ they_ here? Aren't they supposed to be off on some adventure? Does this mean I'm supposed to join the crew just like a... Mary Sue??'_

Lin's mind immediately protected her from any further horrors by shutting down at the idea. Chopper had finally regained his own mind (which was torn between giddiness at recognition and panic at Usopp's disappearance) only to find Lin huddled on the ground with a look of horror on her face, a Cloud of Doom hovering over her and Robin looking on in bemusement. Chopper sweat dropped.

"Um... Are you okay?"

"Ah! I'm fine! Absolutely fine! _**BLOODY FANTASTIC**_!!!" Lin shook her head rapidly to clear it._ 'I can't be the M-word, anyway. Compared to even Usopp, I'm as tough as a butterfly.' _

Angsty as it may sound, it was true. Lin may have taken Kung Fu (though she was only a green belt) and may hold her own against the occasional mugger and pervert (she seemed to fly into an almost comical and paranoid rage at the very hint of them now) but she was no match for even one marine with a sword. Let alone hordes of them with cannons and guns…

"Hmm, she seems to have lost her bearings again. Perhaps she's having a stroke?"

"NANI?!?! SHE'S HAVING A STROKE?! WE NEED A DOCTOR!!! Ah, wait, I'm the doctor..." Chopper's voice was enough to pull Lin from her thoughts, wiping away a bit of drool from her lip.

"Ah, sorry about that" Lin apologized, looking sheepish. "I tend to space out a bit too easily. But have you seen a girl running around?" Robin and Chopper shook their heads, and Lin sighed in frustration. Shifting her backpack so it sat comfortably on her back, Lin started to walk in a random direction.

Sure, they were amazing characters and every One Piece fan's dream, but they weren't real. And Asuka needed her attention right now, whether she wanted it or not.

Suddenly a small hoof tugged at her pants. Turning, she saw Chopper standing with her pokéball keychain and a puzzled look on his face, making Lin twitch from resisting the urge to hug him. "Um, you dropped this..." Lin smiled and chuckled slightly.

"Thanks, it always falls off." Lin reattached the keychain and continued walking until Chopper spoke up again. "W-where are you going?" Lin turned, confused.

"I need to find Asuka, the little girl. She managed to sneak away when I was supposed to be watching her, and now she's trying to get to the tavern to meet the pirates."

Robin suddenly looked up, an amused smile on her lips. "Amethyst eyes with short black hair? And a stethoscope around her neck?" Lin nodded emphatically. "That's her! Did you see her?" Lin looked around eagerly.

Robin nodded "Yes, she seems to be travelling with our own hanaking. I believe if we head this way we can catch up to them." And with that she briskly walked away, an eager Chopper trotting at her heels.

Well, guess she had no choice now. Lin grinned before jogging to catch up. "Oi, wait up!"

* * *

Many things terrified Usopp, from monsters to ghouls to any dangerous enemy. While sailing with the Pirate King had toned down his outward reactions (and inward if he was being honest with himself, which he never was) he still resorted most often to his basic instinct of run.

But that would mean running from the doe-eyed kid, and she already looked lost enough.

Finally settling in the shade of someone's chimney, Usopp pulled off the little girl and set her beside him, making a shushing gesture.

Glancing around cautiously, he finally relaxed as he neither heard nor saw any sign of his search party. "Whew; I thought they'd never give up!" The girl merely tilted her head to the side. Usopp stared awkwardly then jammed his thumb towards his puffed-out chest. "I am the great Sogeking-sama, leader of eight thousand followers and brave warrior of the seas! Also known as the great pirate CAPTAAAIN USOPP~!!!" Breathing out, he blinked as he gave a wary glance to his surroundings.

"It's... been a while since I could finish that... uninterrupted..." The girl giggled.

"You're so funny!" Usopp huffed in mock indignation. "Hey! Don't underestimate me! I happen to be a man of high esteem; everyone knows me as the 'honorable Usopp'!"***** Suddenly Usopp paused in confusion, muttering to himself. "Déjà vu..."

The girl suddenly smiled brightly. "Did you say pirate?!" Usopp nodded, holding up Kabuto in a striking pose. "Please, that's 'Captain Usopp'. But there's no need for flattery..." The girl beamed.

"My name's Ookami Asuka, Captain Usopp!" Usopp's head seemed to swell at being called 'captain'.

"Yes, Asuka, is it? You remind me of a princess I was once hired to transport to the kingdom of a warring country!" Usopp's eyes glazed over as he switched into story-teller mode. "Her land was being ravaged by a crocodile-like beast, ten feet tall with golden claws of death! But he was no match for me, so he called upon his demon army and tried to overwhelm me with numbers! But not even the demon penguins and dogs were a match for-"

"USOPP!!!"

"That's right! The great CAPTAA- ACK! What are you guys doing here?!" Usopp's eyes bugged out as he was tackled by a small reindeer, followed by the tall archeologist and another girl who brightened upon seeing Asuka. "Asuka!!"

In a flash, she had picked up Asuka and was swinging her around in circles. "Ah! I'm so glad I found you! I told you that we needed to stay in the house!" She began scolding as she set the girl down.

The girl looked up with the most Bambi-like eyes Lin had ever seen, instantly earning herself forgiveness. "But... Sky-nee-san, I just wanted to meet them..." Lin reached down and hugged her.

"You are so lucky I have such a weak spot for cute things... I almost had a heart attack you know!"

"Sorry..." Meanwhile, Chopper was squeezing the life out of Usopp.

"Usooopp!"

"Ch-Chopper! C-can't... breathe..."

"Ah!" Chopper dropped the bluish Usopp with a slight thud before checking him over for damage. Seeming satisfied at what he saw, he latched himself onto the side of Usopp's torso. "Wha… What happened Usopp…?" He asked in a small voice. Usopp sighed, looking away.

"I'd… rather not talk about it." Lin and Asuka watched silently, although Asuka attention was glued to the backpack on Chopper's back.

Asuka suddenly gasped. "Ah… Tanuki-san! Are _you_ the Mugiwara doctor??" Chopper seemed to twitch at being called a tanuki but nodded nonetheless. Robin chuckled.

"Yes, he happens to be a top-class doctor. I doubt there is a case in the world he could not cure." Chopper began to wriggle with delight. Seeing this, Lin plugged Asuka's ears just as Chopper began his happy (although he's _not_ happy at all!) dance.

Lin cleared her throat as Chopper finally calmed down, removing her hands from Asuka's head. "I would appreciate it if you didn't use that language in front of a small child." Chopper blushed (although how that was possible with his fur was a true mystery) and apologized sheepishly. Asuka immediately ran up to him, practically shining with delight.

"I've always wanted to meet you! My daddy's a doctor, and I'm going to be one too! I even have a professional stereotype!" Lin coughed slightly.

"Err, that's _'stethoscope'_ Asuka." Asuka nodded, undeterred.

"Hai! Stethoscope!"

Robin chuckled as Usopp sweat dropped, muttering to her "This is definitely Luffy's village…"

Meanwhile Chopper was struggling not to cuss out the girl as she practically showered him with praise. "And you even travelled the entire world! You're a real hero!" Chopper looked as though he were about to pass out, so Lin picked up Asuka and said

"We need to get back before your dad finds out we left…" Asuka's eyes widened before she turned her teary-eyed gaze of doom to Chopper, who seemed to crumple at her look of disappointment.

"But… I wanted to talk to Doctor Chopper some more… He's my hero!"

Usopp saw this as an opportunity to get out of returning to the bar. "Well, we can always come with you! After all, a great hero like Chopper knows how vital it is to not leave his fans waiting!" Chopper's head tilted to the side.

"It is?" Usopp nodded vigorously.

"You wouldn't want to disappoint your fan, would you?" Chopper gasped in horror, shaking his head so violently his hat flew over his eyes.

"N-never!"

Usopp posed epically, taking on a wise tone. "A true warrior never leaves a damsel in distress! Onward, brave Chopper! Be the hero that you are to her! Accompany her in her time of need! Go forth!"

"YOSH!" And they marched away in a random direction. Robin smiled slightly.

"Interesting how they do that." Lin nodded while Asuka stared admiringly at Chopper.

"An interesting lot, those two."

* * *

They were all sitting in Asuka's living room after she had led them all to her house (Lin had walked in a bunch of different directions before turning to the girl pathetically.) Robin was sitting on the couch with Usopp, who seemed lost in thought. Chopper was chatting with Asuka about doctoring methods and medical stuff. Lin only kept her ears perked for any sign of Chopper's happy dance.

By this time, it was around noon and everyone was starting to get hungry. Chopper was trying desperately to hide it with a prompt from Usopp that it was impolite to ask their host for food. Even though Usopp made a great show of his own hunger and seemed to have no qualms about becoming guests in the first place.

But Lin had nonetheless asked Asuka if it was alright to use her kitchen, after Asuka explained that it was her father's original plan to leave her with another neighbor before Lin had shown up.

Lin wandered in the kitchen and was struck dumb by the lack of electronic appliances. What kind of sick universe didn't have a microwave?! Sighing, she attempted to remember recipes that were used to feed more than her as she rummaged through the fridge. Lin pushed aside some odd vegetables in her quest for edibles, grumbling. "Damn health nuts…"

* * *

Robin listened to the various clatters coming from the kitchen as she watched the furry doctor attempt to hold in his happiness. The poor dear was trying so hard, really. Seeing how he was about to relapse into his dance, though, Robin called the girls attention away.

"Asuka, was it?" The girl looked up curiously as Chopper buried his face into a nearby pillow, where a string of muffled curses trickled out shortly. "Yes?" Robin attempted to make short conversation as he recovered.

"Is Lin-san your big sister?" Asuka shook her head. "No, but she's fun to be around!"

Usopp looked up curiously. "Then why do you call her 'Sky-nee-san'?" Asuka grinned.

"Well, when she fell out of the sky, she landed on the mayor and was knocked unconscious! So we didn't know what her name was, and I named her Sky!"

Usopp shook his head at the Luffy-type logic before the meaning of her words sunk in. "EHHH?? She fell from the sky?!" Asuka nodded.

"Yeah! I wasn't there, but I heard it was really weird! The thing is, she doesn't remember how she got into the sky in the first place! I asked her where she came from, but all she said was something about aliens…" Chopper had recovered by this point, and was staring at Asuka with his jaw dropped.

"UWAH! Lin's an alien?!"

"I prefer the term 'trans-dimensional human', thank you very much."

They all turned to see Lin standing in the doorway to the kitchen, a semi-annoyed expression on her face and two odd fruits in her hands. "Um, I don't really recognize any of the fruits here…" Asuka giggled.

"Those are acerolas******, they aren't good for much other than juice…"

"Ah." Lin blinked, and then turned to the others. "I only know how to make cookies from raw materials, really. So… Any allergies I should know about?" Everyone shook their heads. Robin spoke up.

"Would you like any help?"

"Ah that's okay, really-"

"Fine." Robin simply walked into the kitchen, pulling up her sleeves. Lin looked over at Usopp and Chopper who simply shrugged. Lin rolled her eyes before following her; so much for help in that department.

* * *

"So I was thinking of making boiled cookies*******, they're pretty good despite their name and they're fairly healthy, too. I never cared for that myself but they have mostly healthy stuff in here so-"

"I would actually like to ask you some questions." Lin blinked and then began dropping various ingredients into a pot she had found.

"What would you like to know? I can't guarantee that I know everything." Setting the heat on the stove, she rummaged through the pantry, pulling out some other ingredients. Robin watched silently before asking.

"What did you mean by 'trans-dimensional'?" Lin's face twisted as she measured ingredients.

"Well, I don't know how I got here. The last thing I remember was being at a library reading One- ah, some books. I believe there was a senile old lady involved but…" Removing the pot from the heat, Lin dropped the rest of the stuff in and began to stir quickly. "I think she dropped something and I reached down to get it, then… Nada. Zip. Zilch. Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Lin quipped, and then spooned out the mixture on a board in small clumps.

"This place is similar to my city, but the geography is completely turned around. I've never heard of the East Blue, and no one here's heard of the Pacific Ocean, on of the largest oceans in the world!" Turning away thoughtfully, she then wondered out loud "I think I saw something on top of my backpack when I woke up, was that what that old lady dropped…?" Robin simply walked out of the kitchen.

Lin walked into the living room to see Asuka and Chopper crowded around Usopp, who was telling them a story. "Hey, the cookies will be done in about twenty minutes. They just need to cool off." She smiled as Asuka and Chopper cheered at the prospect of sweets. Turning, she saw Robin standing with her backpack sitting beside her. Lin picked it up and began to open the main pocket before she noticed "Ah, where'd my keychain go??"

"You mean this?" Chopper held it up in his hoof. "I saw it lying on the carpet…" He looked at it curiously while Lin took it and attempted to attach it to her backpack. "What is it exactly?" Lin paused, holding it up.

"Actually, it's a light. But it's modeled after a popular story called 'Pokémon'." She replied, pushing the small button in the middle for the light.

Only to frown in confusion when it didn't light up. "Jeez, is it broken? It was working just fine and it seemed so resilient-" The small keychain suddenly grew to the size of Lin's palm, the button clicking inward. Usopp, Chopper and Asuka gasped simultaneously, while Robin simply blinked.

"Lin-san, is it supposed to do that?"

"Hn, not really." Robin looked at Lin only to see her standing there with her eye twitching.

"Lin-san, daijoubu?" Lin didn't answer, but started muttering, huddling in on herself.

"This is so wrong. It's like some kind of sick Mary Sue joke. The hell do they take me for?? I should have stayed home; I should have known that even in real life, senile old ladies spell trouble. Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid-" Robin sprouted a hand from Lin's shoulder and slapped her across the face. Lin blinked and looked around stupidly. How had they slapped her when she was all the way- Robin spoke up,

"Are you feeling better?" Lin seemed to realize something. '_Ah, right. Hana hana powers.'_

"I'm fine, thanks. I think I have an idea about this…" Lin semi-hoped that her theory was wrong, but the Pokémon fan in her simply said 'go for it!' Holding up the enlarged keychain, she gave it a small toss to the center of the living room, and watched it fall. There was a brief pause and a soft thump where it had landed, and Lin breathed out. "Whew, that was a close-"

Suddenly the pokéball opened with a 'whoosh', and light poured out of it, taking on a familiar shape. Lin gaped as Chopper 'hid' behind Usopp, who was cowering behind a stoic Robin. Asuka was clinging to Chopper, attempting to mimic his pose. Robin tilted her head to the side as the pokéball closed with a click, a small figure sitting up with a confused

"Pikachu?"

* * *

Nami, despite her rather violent disposition, was a very caring person once you got to know her. And she had known Usopp long enough to merit her nice side. So when Robin and Chopper didn't reappear with him, she was most definitely concerned. She was sitting on a barstool next to Luffy, who was eating ten times his ridiculously skinny weight. Suddenly, Luffy paused and turned to her. "Ne, Nami." Nami simply watched the doors. "Naaami..." He began poking her.

"Nami. *poke* Nami. *poke* Na-" SLAM.

"THE HELL DO YOU WANT, BAKA?!?!" Luffy lay twitching on the ground, sporting a large bump as Shanks looked on in amusement. Shanks turned to Zoro, who happened to be sitting by, and whispered

"Luffy hasn't stopped being rubber, has he?" Zoro shook his head through another glass. "So why did that..."

"Nearly end his life?" Zoro finished, setting down his empty glass. He shrugged. "We don't know, but the witch is the only one that can do that." A flying kick suddenly appeared and Zoro grabbed the foot in mid-air.

"NAMI-SWAN IS NOT A WITCH YOU GREEN-HAIRED BRUTE!!"

"You wanna start something, Swirly??" A fist collided with each of their heads, sending them twitching on the ground next to their captain. Shanks looked up at the towering girl with a bit of fear in his eyes.

"It's too early for this kind of thing!" Luffy randomly recovered and popped up with a grin on his face.

"Yosh! Nami's back to normal!" He laughed in triumph as Nami gaped at him. Turning to her, he smiled and said "Don't worry so much Nami! Usopp probably just didn't want to come back so soon! We'll see them later!" Nami still looked troubled.

Luffy's grin slowly left his face as he watched Nami. He stared at her with an oddly thoughtful look on his face, before poking Nami once. "Oi, Nami." Nami turned around only to have Luffy put the strawhat on her head. "There! Now you won't worry so much!" Taking a nearby glass, he shouted at the crowd "Kenpai!"

"KENPAI!!!" Nami grinned at his logic before feeling the hat. Maybe she shouldn't worry so much... Shanks and Makino gave her an odd look before Shanks burst into laughter. Makino giggled, explaining.

"When Luffy was growing up, anyone who so much as looked at that hat funny he beat up. I'm glad he found nakama like you guys..." Franky spoke up.

"Nah, the girly's the only one that can wear the hat. We never even asked."

Shanks had a look on his face that Nami did _not_ appreciate. "So, never thought the anchor had it in him! Just became the Pirate King and he's already got his quee-"

The Red-haired pirates looked over to see their captain being mercilessly beaten to a pulp by a small, orange-haired girl with a bright red face. Rockstar spoke up first. "Should we help him?" First-mate Ben shook his head as he watched the carnage out of the corner of his eye.

"Captain has that affect on women. Happens all the time." Lucky Roo grinned.

"Ain't that girl Cat-Theif Nami? The girl on Anchor's crew?" Ben looked a bit closer then sat back, a smirk on his face.

"In that case, looks like the Captain's hit the nail on the head with his teasing."

* * *

***** Virtual cookies to those that can guess where I got this from!

******I made a pun!! In an SBS, Oda-sensei stated that Luffy would be from Brazil in real life. An acerola is a real fruit from Brazil that has ten times the nutrional value of an orange. Asking for acerola juice in Brazil is like asking for Orange juice in America, plus with its nutritional value it would be expected in a doctor's refrigerator. HA.

*******These things are to die for! Despite their name and way of making them they're very chocolatey and healthy at the same time. One of my favorite cookies yo.

Lawlz, I made a Pikachu! I went ahead with the idea, and SilverStar94 (TYSM!!) helped me iron out all the details and such. Plus, I_ just _got your message and I am so doing that! Thank you again!

In other news, I don't think I did Robin very well, honestly. Which is a shame to me because she really is an awesome character. In other news, because this story doesn't follow the normal storyline, I'm happy to take any ideas you may have for any adventures! Plus OC's, but you'll have to be specific, because I _will_ fill in the blanks for you! And you may not like my filling in...

Review!

**Edit: And... well... same thing. You know, fixed it.**


	6. Communication

Well, I suppose the whole new summary thing worked out. I updated last week and the number of reviews doubled! That's either a case of really good luck or maybe it actually worked~! You never know.

This chapter may be a bit dramatic. My mom decided to take me to a replica of the Vietnam Wall, and it was SUPER depressing... Nothing makes a teen angst like depression, so it may have leaked into this chapter. But I managed to cheer up for the section in the end, so... yeah.

I have to be honest with you guys, Zoro is one of my favorite characters. I also started reading Bleach, and Kisuse and Renji are _almost_ as amazing. Mostly Renji. But the point is, I was searching through some fics, and I found two Zoro-centric fics that really made my day!

The first one was called 'Quincentennial Wish' by Red Eyes White Dragon, and it was a story about a Imoogi from Korean mythology that wants to become a Yong (dragon) by obtaining a certain thing found in a human girl every five-hundred years or so. The _green_ Imoogi tries to aquire this jewel, Yeoiju, by becoming a human. He, however, finds that taking the Yeoiju from a certain sword-weilding senei's daughter takes a lot more than he first thought. An amazing story about Zoro and Kuina's adorable love/hate relationship and an interesting perspective on Zoro's odd obsession with defeating her with a mythological twist.

The other story is 'The Demon Swordsman' by Hot Shot's grl. This is a story about the Great Demon Era, and how Monkey D. Luffy is possessed by a demonic blade and forced to slaughter. The World Government's top assassin, Demon Roronoa Zoro, also known to the other demons as Demon God Asura, is sent to kill him. When Zoro finds the real cause behind Luffy's slaughtering of some very certain characters' families, he goes back on his orders after slaying the demon and instead travels with Luffy to find his brother that was traveling with the Whitebeard Demons.

That's enough advertisement. I only put them there cause I love you guys and I want you to read some good readin's. :3 If you guys have any cool fics, please let me know! I will promptly go and read them, review them, and just plain enjoy them! Zoro-centric fics are my favorites, especially the ones about him having some sort of supernatural background and totally amazing origin. I won't read any slash stories though, so don't even bother with that. Sorry.

In other news, I do not own One Piece. Oda-sensei is a genius, and Whitebeard went out with the biggest bang both in the manga universe and to us readers. I could never come up with that kind of amazing-ness.

* * *

**The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.**

**~Anonymous**

Lin gaped at the small figure in front of her. This was definitely turning out to be a weird week. First she converses with a senile old woman that induces a black-out for three days, then she wakes up in her favorite anime only to see that she _missed the entire storyline_, and now her keychain turns out to be a real pokéball with a real Pikachu in it!

Speaking of the pikachu, the poor little dear had such a confused expression on his face that Lin's 'small child/animal' instincts kicked in and she flung herself at the pokémon, wrapping her arms around him and exclaiming "You're so cute~!!"

This seemed to bring Asuka out of her fear and she walked up to Lin as Usopp and Chopper slowly detached themselves from Robin, who had yet to say anything. Asuka looked curiously at the pikachu, tilting her head slightly.

"Sky-nee-san, what is he?" The pikachu frowned, pulling away from Lin and pouting slightly. "Pika pika pika!" Chopper tilted his head to the side.

"'I'm a girl, dammit'?"

Usopp looked carefully at the small reindeer. "You're a what…?"

"N-no! Not me!" Chopper waved frantically before pointing at the pouting pikachu. "That's what she said!" Lin blinked, then looked a bit more carefully at her.

"Ah, you're right. My mistake!" Robin looked at her curiously.

"How can you tell, Lin-san?" Lin pointed to the pikachu's tail.

"The girls have a double-rounded tail while the boys have a flat tail. She's a pikachu, by the way." Usopp seemed confused.

"So you can tell the difference between boy rats and girl rats by their tails?" The pikachu's eyes narrowed and sparks of electricity gathered on her red cheeks. Lin recognized what would happen next and pulled Asuka as far away from Usopp as possible. Asuka snatched up Chopper and clung to him like a teddy bear as Robin calmly took a few steps away from the unfortunate long nose.

"PIKACHUUU!"

"EEEEEYAAAAAAHHH!!!!" Usopp was promptly barbecued by a furious electrical pokémon. Lin sadly shook her head and Chopper shakily translated.

"She… She said, 'I-I'm not a bloody rat'." Chopper cautiously crept by the pikachu and examined Usopp, then turned and looked at Robin.

"He'll be okay!" Lin grinned.

"He's pretty lucky, then." Robin looked at her "And why is that, Lin-san?" Lin looked casually at Usopp.

"A pikachu's normal attacks have the voltage of a lightning bolt."

Robin seemed to understand. "Ah, if Pika-chan hadn't held back then, the electricity would have surely pierced long nose-kun's heart."

Usopp fainted.

* * *

"The cookies are ready!"

"Yosh!" Chopper and Asuka cheered as they ran into the kitchen. Lin showed them where the cookies were and watched their reactions carefully as they bit into a cookie. "Did they turn out okay? I wasn't sure if they would because these ingredients are a bit different and I'm not much of a cook-"

Asuka cut her off with a "These are great!"Chopper nodded eagerly in agreement. "Thank you Lin!"

Lin blinked before grabbing a cookie of her own and tasting it. It wasn't too bad, perhaps a bit too much sugar and not enough peanut butter, but still good. "Hn, they're okay."

She grabbed a plate from the cupboard and set the rest of the cookies on it, walking out of the kitchen. In the living room Usopp (who had recovered in a way only anime characters could pull off) and Robin were sitting on couches across the room from each other, with Pika sitting contentedly on Robin's lap as she stroked her. Lin walked up to Robin first.

"You guys want a cookie?" Robin smiled and took two, handing one to the curious Pika. Pika experimentally nibbled on her cookie as Lin took the plate to Usopp, who was watching Pika warily. Lin smirked as she offered him a cookie. "You know, you just happened to push the wrong button with Pika. I'm sure she won't zap you if you just don't call her a rat ever again." Usopp nibbled his cookie, watching Lin thoughtfully.

Chopper and Asuka had snuck up behind Lin, stealing more cookies as she conversed with Usopp. Robin watched with a small smile before speaking up.

"Lin-san."

Lin turned around and the two cookie thieves turned with her, stuffing cookies in their mouths and running off before they could be caught. "Yeah?"

"Where did Pika-chan come from? You seemed so surprised to see her; I'm assuming that she probably didn't exist to you." Lin set the half-empty plate of cookies down on the table in the middle of the living room before sitting on the couch next to Robin. Offering another cookie to Pika, she stroked her head as she spoke.

"You're right. As I said, that device was originally a light modeled after a story called Pokémon."Usopp looked up curiously.

"What kind of story?"

"Pokémon is short for Pocket Monsters, it was a story set in a world where the animals, the pocket monsters, each had special powers. Each pokémon was unique, and the scientists in the story discovered a way to capture them, and they used them for battles and pets. The ones that captured pokémon and battled them were known as trainers."

Lin pulled the pokéball (which had shrunk back to its keychain form) out of her pocket and held it up. "The story itself is about a kid that wants to be the top trainer in the world. And in the story he…" Lin trailed off with a blank expression and Robin waited patiently for her to continue before

"And?"

"I… uh, I actually haven't heard the story in years. I don't really remember the rest!" Usopp fell over comically as Robin chuckled slightly.

"Very well then, how did you know what a pikachu was?"

"A pikachu was the main character's first pokémon. Plus there are a bunch of games modeled after the story. So far, there are almost five-hundred pokémon!" Usopp sputtered, spraying a suspicious amount of cookie over the living room floor.

"And every single one was a battling maniac with powers?!" Lin nodded.

"Pretty much."

Robin spoke up. "And I'm guessing your apparent light was modeled after the capturing devices used in the story."

"Yep."

"Did they all come with a pokémon already inside them?"

"No, that's what confuses me the most. They're usually empty, and you have to capture a pokémon by battling it until it's weak enough to submit to one."

"So then where did Pika come from, Sky-nee-san?" Lin turned to find Asuka and Chopper standing behind her. Lin eyed their faces, which were practically coated with crumbs.

"First of all, I have no idea. I bought her pokéball at a market in Japan, and back then it was most definitely a light. Second, just how many cookies did you eat?!"

Chopper and Asuka looked at each other's faces and immediately began to scrub away the evidence. A hiccup distracted Lin and she looked to the table to see Usopp and Pika huddled over an empty plate, guilty looks plastered on their faces. Usopp shrugged, his face resembling a long nosed chipmunk. "What? Sanji doesn't make cookies that often!"

* * *

In the center of town, a certain blond-haired, swirly-browed chef sneezed, interrupting his drink. He looked around oddly, "…That's weird." Franky turned to him with his cola in his hand. "What's up cook-bro?" Sanji shook his head with a blank expression. "I think someone was talking about me…" His eye randomly turned into a manly pink, throbbing heart. "Robin-chwan must be thinking of me in _loooove_!!!"

Brooke laughed loudly. "Yohohoho~! Robin-san and the others have been gone for a while! My heart is absolutely throbbing with worry! Although I have no heart! SKULL JOKE!! YOHOHOHO~!!!" Luffy laughed with Brooke, apparently not worrying too much about the bloodied corpse that was once his childhood hero. "Shishishi~! Good one Brooke!"

Nami, who was chatting lightly with Makino, turned and frowned at him. "Idiots." Makino smiled.

"I'm glad." Nami looked at her curiously. "Glad about what? That they're idiots?" Makino giggled, shaking her head and indicating the hat on Nami's head.

"Glad that Luffy's found nakama. He didn't have any friends growing up, even if he came to the village every day. He was actually bullied by others when he was a kid." Nami frowned at the thought. She turned to the partying men thoughtfully, unable to comprehend the idea of _Luffy_ being _bullied_ and anything but friends with everyone he met.

A slight movement caught the corner of her eye and she turned to see Shanks lying on the floor, a deep frown set in his normally easy-going face. Shanks sighed as he sat up. "The whole thing was my fault too." Nami looked at him oddly.

"Your fault he was bullied?" Shanks nodded, sitting carefully on the stool as Makino looked on sadly.

"We first visited this village when Luffy was only six years old. He was a crazy kid, always trying to get us to take him with us on a voyage." Nami grinned, _that_ was more of the Luffy she knew.

"He was obsessed with pirates, even if he couldn't swim. That's why we nicknamed him Anchor, because the poor boy always sank like one even before he ate a devil fruit. We were docked here for another year when, after returning from another voyage, the stupid kid climbed up on the figurehead of our ship with a dagger."

Nami shrugged; apparently Luffy had always had a fascination for the figureheads of ships. But he couldn't swim even before his devil fruit? No wonder not swimming never seemed to bug him. Shanks continued.

"And he took that dagger and he yells at us that he's tired of us looking down on him." Shanks mimicked a small boy with a dagger in his hand. He then made a stabbing motion towards his face. "This is how tough I am! And the brat _stabbed himself in the damn face_!" Nami gaped at Shanks before watching Luffy pester his first mate. There was indeed a small scar under his eye, but she never would have guessed self-mutilation.

Luffy seemed to feel Nami's stare and grinned, waving spastically at her. Nami gave a small wave back before turning to see Shanks with an amused expression on his face. Seeing the look on Nami's face, however, he cleared his throat and continued his story.

"Anyway, the kid started crying. So we took him to this tavern to feed him and calm him down. Anchor then started bragging about how it didn't hurt and how he was definitely going on a voyage with us! We were all having fun before some mountain bandits came." Shanks rolled his eyes.

"They called themselves the scourge of the mountains. The leader began bragging about how many he had killed and how he had a whole bounty of _eight million beri_." Nami rolled her eyes; didn't the idiot know who he was dealing with?

"The guy wasn't that tough. He tried to make some trouble but eventually left because we had drunk all of the sake." Makino interrupted at this point.

"You're forgetting something. The bandit tried to fight you for drinking the sake." Nami tilted her head as Shanks laughed loudly.

"Ah, that's right! The idiot even spilled my drink all over my hat!" Nami couldn't understand anyone that reminded her so much of Luffy allowing anyone to simply walk away after committing such blasphemy. She spoke up. "And you didn't fight them?" Shanks shook his head lazily.

"Nah, they weren't worth it."

Nami couldn't understand, and Shanks seemed to see this. He leaned back and said "You know, there comes a time in every man's life when there's no reason to fight back." Nami jerked back with a start at the familiar words.

"And sometimes, when you don't fight back, you win." Nami's mind drifted back to Jaya Island, when Bellamy the Hyena had mocked Luffy's dreams. Nami had been so confused when instead of sending them flying, Luffy had instead told Zoro to not fight back. Then there was that man that had told her they had won the fight…

"We were so distracted with the mountain bandits, we didn't notice what Luffy was eating." Nami turned back to see Shanks looking a bit sadly at Luffy. "The poor kid was only seven years old, and someone had decided to leave out one of the treasures we had acquired from our voyage, the cursed Gomu Gomu Fruit."

Nami could guess the rest. If Luffy was as much of a glutton then as he was now, there was no way he'd pass up free food. It was a bit sad, Luffy eating the fruit at such a young age. He was most likely considered the freak of the century to a normal small town with normal people.

It was a miracle he was still so happy. None of them really knew anything about Luffy, now that she thought about it. All they knew was some random goofy kid had appeared in their lives with a straw hat and a big dream. Being one of the first members to join, not even Nami could understand him, or even the other man that had appeared with him that day in Orange Town. Roronoa Zoro was considered a demon in human form that took out all of his horror on pirates; and she could only imagine what would make a guy like him follow a guy like Luffy with such loyalty.

As if reading her thoughts, Shanks asked "So how did you guys meet Luffy?" Nami tried to keep it short.

"I tricked him and stole all of his treasure, a pirate tried to raid Usopp's village, he blew a hole in Sanji's restaurant, he tried to eat Chopper, Robin's old partner tried to kill him, he beat up all of Franky's underworld subordinates, and Brooke was haunting the Florian Triangle when we passed through." Shanks blinked once… twice… Then laughed, wrapping his only arm around his stomach as he rolled off his seat, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

Luffy came over to see his idol laugh/crying, and looked at Nami oddly. "Ne, Nami. What's wrong with him?"

"I told him a funny story." Luffy's eyes widened.

"Oh! Will you tell me the story too??" Nami shook her head.

"Nah, it's only funny to him because he's never heard it before. You've heard it a thousand times." Luffy nodded in understanding, pounding a fist into his hand.

"Yosh! Just like a mystery!"

"Yes Luffy, a mystery." And together they watched the poor captain laugh until his chest was heaving and his eyes were flooded with tears of humor and pain.

* * *

**AN: WARNING! Usopp angsting; somewhat irrelevant and just plain _not okay._ Skip to the next section if you want. You have been warned.**

Robin carefully placed Pika in Lin's lap, standing and waving to Usopp. "We should probably head back." Usopp looked with a startled expression. "But we haven't been here _that_ long!"

"Actually, we've been here for about three and a half hours. Any longer and they may just come looking for us." Lin looked at them curiously. "Why aren't you guys in the tavern, anyway?" Chopper looked up from his game with Asuka.

"Usopp didn't want to meet his dad, so he punched him and ran away. Robin and I ran after him." A dark look settled on Usopp's face briefly before he sighed. Lin, on the other hand, was shocked. Wasn't it Usopp's dream to meet his dad? Why on earth would he punch him?? Wondering how to ask, she instead went for the obvious.

"Why would you do that?" Usopp looked at her sharply and she hastily added "N-not that it's any of my business." Usopp frowned to himself in thought.

"Sorry, it's just… I became a pirate to make my dad proud, you know?" Lin almost nodded before catching herself, instead shaking her head.

"No, actually. I don't know. Your dad's a pirate too?"

"Yeah. He left when I was a baby to travel the world. My mom always told me stories about him as a brave warrior of the seas. She was great, but she was sick. The last thing she told me before she died was how glad she was that he went off to live his dream." Chopper's eyes watered and Asuka clung to him, sniffling pathetically. Lin hugged Pika like a teddy bear as Usopp continued, his eyes watering slightly.

"When she was sick I was just a little kid, and I thought that if my dad came home she'd get better. Eventually I thought that if she even had that hope, she'd hold on until he came. So I started running through the village, telling everyone how pirates were coming, they were coming that day and I'd run to my mom and tell her it was going to be alright; that dad was coming and she needed to be better so he could see her…" Usopp sniffled as Lin's eyes watered; even Pika looked up with a wavering

"Chu…"

"I did that for a long time. Till one day I ran up to her when the doctor was there, and he told me that she was dying." Usopp made an odd choking noise in the back of his throat. "And she told me… that she was proud of him. That he had promised to come back someday and tell us all about his adventures as a brave warrior of the seas! But now that she couldn't be there, she hoped I would follow my own dreams. And she died, then and there.

"She told me that even though he had abandoned us, even though he most likely wouldn't return for years and years to come, that she still loved him and she was proud of him." Usopp sat heavily on the couch, his face in his hands.

"When I saw my dad, I couldn't help but remember all those times I would look out to sea on a cliff and watch for him in the morning. And even though he wasn't there, I'd tell everyone he was coming, I told everyone I was proud of him, I told them all a bunch of lies. And then my mom had died with just as much faith in him as if he'd stayed home and raised me himself."

Lin didn't know what to say. Truth be told, she never thought of the One Piece characters as anything more than characters. She could only wipe her eyes as Pika clung to her with watery eyes herself.

Robin, who had been silent during the entire story, then spoke up. "Does your father know?" Usopp looked up. "Does he know what?"

"That your mother died." The implications seemed to slam into Usopp. "Wha… D-does…"

"Or does he think that he can still go home to such a loving wife? Does he still believe in his dream of coming home and telling all those stories?" Robin tilted her head, expression unreadable. Usopp gaped like a fish as her words seemed to hit home, and Chopper looked at him worriedly. Suddenly, Usopp rushed out the front door, leaving behind a small trail of dust. Robin looked back as Chopper tried to pry off Asuka.

"Lin-san, I thank you for your hospitality." Lin shrugged, casually trying to hide the fact that she had been crying.

"It was my pleasure; besides, the whole tavern thing is only part one of the parties these guys have planned for you. Tomorrow's the big potluck, that's why you haven't seen any of the women or children around; they're all cooking for the big feast!" Robin nodded in understanding as Chopper finally unstuck himself from Asuka.

"Don't worry! We'll see each other tomorrow and then you can meet the rest of my nakama!"

"But… Doctor Chopper…" Asuka's eyes watered and Chopper seemed to be struggling. Lin whispered something in Asuka's ear and she suddenly perked up. "Ah, okay! See you tomorrow then, doctor!" Lin looked at Chopper.

"You may want to leave while you still have the chance." Chopper didn't waste anytime taking off almost as quickly as the sniper. Robin followed with a short wave, closing the door behind her. Lin looked at Asuka and Pika. "Well, who wants to take a nap?"

Asuka pouted until "Because I need to clean the kitchen before your father gets home, and anyone awake will have to help!" The two were gone before you could say 'good night', Asuka panicking for Pika and taking her with her.

Lin nodded to herself as she walked into the kitchen. Then she groaned as she surveyed the mess she had made. "I wanna take a nap too~!"

* * *

Somewhere miles away…

Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp was a simple man who enjoyed simple things. Any marine under his command could tell you that. They could also tell you about his love of donuts and his tendency to sleep whenever the hell he wanted, along with many things that he never kept secret (he couldn't keep any secret to save his life). Anything that he cared about was automatically put into any marine's (or pirate's) category of 'Keep Away As Your Life Depends On It'. (This, somehow, did not include any of his family members; as they were the one thing he managed to keep hidden for so long, that when they were exposed as family no one was sure quite what Garp thought of them himself.)

Commodore Coby and Captain Helmeppo happened to be in this category. Over the few years they had traveled with Garp, they had become well known among the marines. It was also well known about their apparent connection to recent Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy and Greatest Swordsman Roronoa Zoro (although Helmeppo's friendliness was questionable in previous encounters). So when the three decided to immediately return to Garp's hometown a week after what the World Government called the beginning of a new, devastating era, many had reason to be suspicious.

Especially when Garp's excuse for clearance of the Calm Belt was that he was going to visit his 'blasted grandson'. That had been met by the Fleet Admiral with swears and death threats and somehow ended with Garp leaving with full clearance and his resounding promise to bring back some green tea.

Coby looked over at the familiar sea with a bit of nostalgia. It had been years since he had seen the East Blue, and a vast majority of that time was not exactly the best in his life. To this day, he would always remember Luffy's kindness towards him. And he intended to keep his promise of becoming an admiral. Helmeppo came up behind him and stared out on the seas; he had some memories of this sea as well, and not all of them were pleasant either. Unlike his friend, he had no debt towards Luffy (except maybe a speck of guilt for trying to kill off his first mate) but a certain fondness for the pirates had grown in him over the past couple of years.

With the Mugiwaras, there was no way anyone, marine or not, could not respect them. Any undercover mission to rid them from the world was a failure, due to the captain's unexplainable ability to make a person lean either towards being completely unable to betray that happy smile or absolutely hating his guts and completely abandoning the mission in plea of mental instability. There was no happy medium, because in this universe, Monkey D. Luffy brand insanity is highly contagious.

A deep voice startled the two from their oddly synchronized thoughts. "Guahahaha! Fine day for sailing, ain't it boys?" The boys turned and saluted Garp.

"Yes sir!"

"Bah, don't give me that 'Yes sir' crap; you missed this sea almost as much as I did!" Garp burst into a fresh wave of laughter, spraying the boys with donut crumbs. Coby wiped at his face discreetly.

"Trying to break the record for consecutive donut eating sir?"

"Yep! I'll beat that bastard who set the last record yet!"

Helmeppo sweat dropped. "Uh, Garp-san, that was yourself." Garp looked over the two, a completely serious look on his face.

"Hn, so it was." He turned to walk back into his room, waving a sugar-coated hand at them. "Forget I said anything!" Coby and Helmeppo could only salute weakly.

Coby shook his head as he turned back to the sea. "Isn't this great Helmeppo-san? We'll finally get to see Luffy without having to fight! I talked to the navigator, and he says we'll be at Garp-san's island by tomorrow.

"I remember when I first met Luffy and he told me how he was going to become the Pirate King! And he only had a little barrel that he floated around in at the time!"

Helmeppo shrugged. "You've told me that story a thousand times, you know." Coby grinned.

"And it doesn't make it any less amazing! Luffy-san is so great!"

Despite himself, Helmeppo had to grin at his friend's enthusiasm. He turned and watched the sea as he thought about how he used to be, a bastard son riding on the coat tails of his father. He didn't really want to think about where he would be if Luffy hadn't shown up, if Zoro had been executed, if that girl…

Helmeppo shook his head. That didn't matter now, because what happened, happened; it all turned out for the best, in the end. He smirked at Coby.

"Yeah, he is kind of great, isn't he?"

* * *

In another note of semi-advertisement semi-credit, the last section was directly inspired by 'The Shichibukai Meeting Incident' by Slim Gohan. It's an amazing short story about the first time _every _Shichibukai got together, back when even Crocodile was one of them. I lol'd so hard when I read that story! :D

Someone asked why it was a pikachu as the pokémon (and apparently attempted to commit seppoku), so here's a hopefully okay answer.

One: Pikachu is one of the most popular pokémon including among me and SilverStar94, who has been great throughout this story I might add again. Youz peoplez are so great :D

Two: I actually do have a pokéball keychain on my backpack (right next to my Luffy one 3) except it has a little pikachu dangling off the end of it. I got it in Japan when Pikachu the Movie first came out; they were selling _so much Pikachu_ that I went a bit nuts. :P

Three (the only logical answer): Pikachu is one of those pokémon that start off kind of weak in the game, with those pathetic simple moves that really aren't much help at all. A key problem with my timing in this story is the crew's strength. When other OCs fall in the One Piece universe, they usually join characters like Usopp and Nami in becoming stronger and somewhat remain the same fighting level as them throughout the story. **That is not possible with this story, as even Usopp's Rubber Band of Doom could take out my OC with the freaky kind of strength that can only be obtained by traversing the entire world.** So she needs at least _someone_ to grow with, no?

Note that these chapters seem to be getting longer, and I am so happy with that! Hopefully I'll be able to create longer chapters and still keep up with my weekly scheduled update!

Another note, Lin can't sing to save her life. So don't even _think_ that she'll become the singer like so many others. I promised that the Mugiwaras would not die in my story, so I can't let her sing. Ever. And apparently she has a fear of deep water. Not really relevant to the story, but... you know... ._.;; I DON'T LIKE GETTING WET, OKAY?!?!

The point is, if you see her completely avoiding swimming in the ocean, don't think that she has a devil fruit. At all. Ever. She will never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever *gasp* ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever **_EVER_ HAVE A DEVIL FRUIT**. So there.

Thank you for putting up with my rant! Hopefully it clears some things up. And if you thought Lin was going to give Usopp that omg-come-to-thy-senses speech, she isn't certified for that kind of thing. And Robin got to nickname Pika, not her trainer. Sorry, Lin. PPP

Review! If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer! EVEN THE STUPID THINGS, BECAUSE I HAVE NO LIFE. That is all.

**EDIT: I fixed the paragraphs, as they were far too clustered. Truth be told, I'm not the happiest with this chapter. I only like the end with Garp, so remind me to not try and write anything when depressed. :PPP But I like the quote I put in, it makes this chapter look TTLY SUPAR. If not only for three seconds... :D**


	7. Misunderstandings

Another weekly update! I can only wonder how long it will last... TT But yet another great chapter by Oda-sensei, and when he updates, I become inspired. :D DUDE, BLACKBEARD PULLED A MAJOR WTF. I won't say anything to spoil it, but DUDE! He totally just-*gets bricked*

Nevermind... Anyway, I confess to an ulterior motive for my little bouts of semi-advertisement. Two, actually.

One: I am directly influenced by what I do all week when I write, as seen by the last angsty chapter (I'll be sure to warn you guys next time that happens) and I need to remind myself which stories inspired me for the greatest outcome. :D

Two: If the stories are incomplete, then more people reading and reviewing them might make them update faster! Hur hur... :O

So in this semi-advertisement semi-credit corner, I must say, I only read one story this week, really. Over one hundred freakin chapters and over one million freaking words. ._.;; 'One Piece: A Smash Adventure' by Specter24 is amazing yo. It's a SUPER crossover focusing on the One Piece crew as they travel to the worlds of Mario, Zelda, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Samus, Kirby, Snake, and Fox. Sound familiar? That's right, it's a crossover between One Piece and Super Smash Bros. Brawl! :DDD But it's so much more, with a new adventure in each world and a HUGE conspiracy/evil plot that is... Well... I actually didn't manage to finish it. D: I'm on the final arc, when after going through the different worlds they go to the Smash universe itself and discover some things about the Master Hand and a new, dark world that threatens them all...

Damn, now I need to finish it. The story ahead is exactly seven thousand words long, and a lot like a plate that was broken and put back together with a bunch of bandaids and string. You can totally see where I lost my inspiration and went back and tried to fix it, but no angst in this chapter! Yay~! 8DDD

I. Don't. Own. One Piece. If you can't figure that out, what are you doing here?

* * *

**"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.****"**

**~Robert McCloskey**

Lin awoke to the jiggling of the doorknob as she sat up from her position on the couch. "Wha…" A muffled curse sounded and there was a jangling of keys as Lin got up. She looked outside the window and noted how it seemed to be early morning.

Apparently she had fallen asleep after cleaning the kitchen. She made a quick mental note of everything in the house as the figure outside the door seemed to have trouble with the lock. _'Kitchen-clean. Asuka- so tired from excitement from pirates I can only hope fell asleep. Backpack- untouched. Pika-'_

"Crap! Pika!" Lin rolled off the couch, pulling the keychain from her pocket. She rushed into Asuka's room just as the front door could be heard opening.

Asuka was indeed sleeping, her arm draped around a curled up Pika. Pushing the button on the keychain, Lin desperately tried to remember how to recall pokémon as the keychain grew. The footsteps moved into the hall and Lin closed the door in a last attempt for a few precious seconds.

"Come on, come on! W.W.A.D., Lin! What Would Ash Do??" She pointed the pokéball at Pika just as the doorknob began to shake ominously. Pika glanced up at her sleepily.

"Pi…?"

"Pika! Return!" Lin hurriedly whispered. A red light shot from the pokéball towards her and Pika seemed to dissolve in a flash of light, waking Asuka just as Dr. Ookami opened the door. Lin turned and hid the shrinking pokéball behind her back. "Mr. Ookami! Welcome home!" The man seemed to look confused about something as Asuka got up. She blinked as her eyes settled on him.

"Daddy, you're back! Did you have fun?" Asuka threw herself at Yamada as he held out his arms.

"Asuka, I hope you were good." He turned and looked at Lin sheepishly. "Sorry about just leaving like that. I hope she wasn't too much trouble…" Lin smiled as Asuka looked at her worriedly.

"No trouble at all! Did you enjoy the party?" Yamada nodded. "Yeah, the sake was great! But this one pirate was crazy! He drank five barrels of sake without passing out. He didn't even seem to get drunk…" Yamada trailed off with a worried expression. Asuka mirrored his face.

"Does that mean… Something's weird with his liver…?" Yamada grinned at her.

"That's my daughter!" Lin shrugged, figuring they were talking about Zoro. She hadn't really appreciated simple trivia back when they were all a story, but now she was glad for all of these facts. _'I knew SBS sections weren't useless! I knew it! I may not have known that something like _this_ would happen; but I knew it!'_

"Daddy, what's wrong with Sky-nee-san? Is she sick?"

"I believe she is simply thinking too hard. Some people cannot focus on their surroundings and think at the same time, you see. She'll probably come out of her state on her own." Lin shook herself as she suddenly realized she had spaced out again.

"Ah, sorry!" Asuka giggled before noticing the keychain in Lin's hand. She looked around as a thought occurred to her.

"Sky-nee-san, where did Pi-" Lin wrapped a hand over Asuka's mouth.

"Pizza? Sorry, Asuka, I don't know how to make pizza. Maybe some other time." Lin loudly interrupted before putting her finger to her lips. She winked as Asuka made a small 'o' with her mouth, before they turned to the confused Yamada. Yamada sighed as he realized the two weren't going to elaborate on their little secret, so he brought up another matter.

"So, Lin-san." Lin looked at him in confusion at the seriousness of his tone.

"What are you going to do now?" Lin frowned as she thought to herself. What was she going to do? In fanfics, the answer was glaringly obvious: join the Straw hats. But this wasn't a fanfic; (at least to the best of her knowledge) this was reality. And in reality, she knew that joining up with the Pirate King's crew, a crew composed of people with monstrous strength and skill, was nigh impossible for someone like her.

(AN: I'm not going to bore you with this thought process as we've been through it before. Let's just skip ahead a few minutes.)

"Sky-nee-san… Wake up…"

"Lin-san, there's no need to think so hard about your answer! You can simply say 'I don't know'." Lin blinked as she came crashing back. She wiped a bit of drool off of her lip and looked at the two in front of her in embarrassment.

"Ah, sorry!" She shook her head to clear any remaining thoughts. "Sorry, Mr. Ookami, I don't know." Yamada sighed; he had suspected as much.

"That's all right. I suppose not many would know what to do in your situation either." Lin frowned.

"I suppose the most logical thing to do would be to find another way back home… But…"

"But?"

"… I can't fly." Yamada and Asuka blinked at the odd statement as she elaborated.

"You guys said I fell out of the sky, right? Then there must be some kind of portal up there. Unless…" Lin turned and began pacing, thinking out loud.

"Unless, if it was a two-way portal, then there would be various birds and such in the library, but there never was such a case. If it's a one-way portal, like it seems to be, then that idea is completely moot." She continued pacing while Asuka quickly became bored and walked out of the room as Yamada listened quietly.

"Where would I find another portal then? Even if I shot myself into the sky somehow, there's no guarantee that it would be the right place. And I don't want to exactly crash land into one of my favorite buildings, either. I suppose if I looked around, I would find another portal…" Her attention quickly snapped to Yamada.

"Mr. Ookami, has anything else strange appeared in this town?" Yamada shook his head. "Any mysterious disappearances?" Another negative. Lin sighed.

"I suppose that would mean there wasn't another portal anywhere around here… What do I do now?" A hand clapped on her shoulder, snapping her from her thoughts. Yamada smiled kindly at Lin.

"We'll figure it out eventually. In the mean time, we all need to get ready for the party today." Lin grinned up at him as he seemed to remember something. "Ah, here."

He pressed a small fold of bills into Lin's hand. She immediately recognized them as the One Piece world's currency, beri. "Here's some beri for your trouble. That's the currency here." He added, seeing the look of confusion on Lin's face. Lin shook her head.

"Why would you do that? Asuka was fun to hang around, and I didn't mind at all…" Yamada simply shrugged.

"You need a start, and I'm just glad Asuka didn't come to the tavern. Besides, she doesn't seem hungry, and I forgot to prepare any meals for you two. Paying you is the least I can do." Yamada left before Lin could protest.

Lin slipped the beri into her pocket and held up the keychain to her face. "What do I do now, Pika?"

She didn't get an answer.

* * *

"Sugoi!!!" Luffy cheered as he left the tavern. Nami stretched a bit as she came out as well.

"It was nice of Makino to lend us some rooms, and for free too~! Plus it was nice to be able to sleep in." Nami smiled in satisfaction as she came up beside Luffy, only to gape at the scene in front of them. "Eh??" Robin came up behind them.

"Ohayo Captain-san. Ohayo Nami-chan. Did you sleep well?"

Nami turned and looked at Robin oddly. "Do you not see what is there?" Robin smiled mysteriously.

"Ah, yes. It seems the villagers planned a potluck for us." And there was indeed a whole group of huge tables filled to the brim with all kinds of home cooked meals that would make any food appreciator's mouth water. It seemed that the entire village was out today, setting out plate after plate of food. Luffy practically lunged forward before Nami caught him, clunking him on the head. "Don't even think about it!"

Sanji came out then, practically dancing in his silliness.

"Nami-SWAAAAANNN!!! Robin-CHWAAAAAANNN!!! You look like two delicate flowers of pure, radiant beauty on this fine afternoon~!" Nami turned to him as he noodle-danced in his own little happy world.

"Don't tell me you knew about this potluck thing too!" Sanji smiled sheepishly.

"Ah, Nami-san, I apologize! But when I woke up early by habit, I found them setting everything up already! Besides, we could use a break." He shrugged as Brooke and Usopp came out.

"Yohohoho~! Ah, ladies. What a fine-Eh?? What's this??" Brooke's jaw dropped as he took in the mountains of food. Beside him, Usopp looked around and muttered. "Jeez, they really did expect Luffy's appetite." Nami turned on him, still holding a pouting Luffy by the collar.

"You knew too??" Usopp quivered, trying to hide behind Brooke.

"EEP! Don't hurt me Nami! Besides, Chopper and Robin knew too!" He was saved by Franky's SUPER greeting.

"OW! What is the meaning of this?? I can't believe I slept for so long! Oi, girly!" He yelled at Nami, who was starting to twitch as each of her nakama were coming out. "Why didn't you tell me about this party?? Were you guys off and partying without me?? Pretty UN-SUPER of you guys!" Nami shook her head, sighing in resignation.

"No, Franky. We didn't party without you. We just woke up." Her eyes took on a darker look. "And what did I tell you about calling me that??" Chopper soon came out, dragging a still sleeping Zoro.

"Zoro! Wake up! They're going to have a big potluck and we don't want to miss- WHOA." Zoro snoozed on as Chopper looked around in awe. "So cool! So this is what she meant…" Luffy stopped pouting and tilted his head curiously.

"Nah, Chopper, what are you talking about?"

"Yeah, reindeer-gorilla. Where'd you all head off to yesterday for so long?"

Yesterday had been… awkward, to say the least. Usopp (as you may know) had punched his father and had rushed out, as Chopper and Robin went after him. This was what the crew knew about anything. So, needless to say, they had been stunned when Usopp (as you may not know) had raced into the bar and froze at seeing the crew stare at him.

Usopp's father had come up to him, exchanged a few words, and went back to his own nakama with more than a few drinks and a blank face. Usopp, upon returning to the bar with a stony glare in Yasopp's direction, had been rather unwilling to talk about what had happened, so they eventually let the matter drop.

Chopper fidgeted under all of the attention he was getting and Robin spoke up for him.

"One of the villagers admired Doctor-san greatly and invited us to her house for a while." Luffy grinned at the blushing Chopper.

"Cool! Chopper's a real hero with real fans!!"

"…!!" Chopper's face froze as Luffy spoke. Sanji casually lit a cigarette, smirking at the doctor. "Looks like the doctor has fans all over. You know, most girls love the doctor type…" Sanji drifted off with a thoughtful expression as Chopper seemed to be choking on something.

"…..!!!" Franky gave him a thumbs up.

"Way to go, reindeer! Fans show just how SUPER you are!" Chopper exploded.

"S-Shut up! ASSHOLES! BAH! I don't need your praise you… you BASTARDS!!! Hee hee~!" Chopper continued on for a bit, clapping and laughing all the while. Some random villagers frowned at the doctor, covering their children's ears, but he couldn't care less at the moment.

Robin chuckled as Brooke laughed. Luffy seemed almost forget about the food in front of him as he cracked up before a yell distracted him.

"Oi, Anchor!" Shanks came from the harbor, his nakama heading straight to the food. He walked up to Luffy and grinned. "Aren't you guys hungry?? Don't tell me you've lost your appetite boy!" The crew (minus Zoro) slapped the air as one.

"Never."

Shanks laughed, motioning for them to eat. "Come on, they worked a week on all of this food! Don't let that go to waste!"

"Yosh! Let's eat~!!!" Luffy yelled as he flung himself at the nearest table. Shanks watched him practically massacre the table and turned to the crew, blinking rapidly at Brooke. He grinned. "Glad to see Anchor in good hands!" Was all he said. Shanks then turned and joined his crew.

Zoro woke and stared at the crowd before shrugging, heading off to one place or another. The rest of them sighed at their captain (who had found that the majority of the town had taken into consideration his love of meat) before walking into the crowd themselves.

* * *

"Come on, Sky-nee-san! They have to be around here somewhere!"

"Asuka, I'm kind of hungry, you know…"

"…" Asuka turned and gave Lin the largest puppy dog eyes she had ever seen. She barely kept herself from squeezing her.

"Okay, okay! Let's go find them!" Asuka grinned widely before running off. Lin had to run to keep up as she smiled at her enthusiasm. She paused as she passed a few tables filled with fruity dishes. Her pokéball was in her pocket, and she wondered about what to feed Pika. Asuka stopped when she noticed Lin wasn't following her and ran back.

"Come on!"

"Um, Asuka… What about Pika?" Asuka looked at her oddly.

"What about Pika-chan?"

"I need to feed her, you know."

"Oh!" Asuka looked at the surrounding tables. "Well… I guess we could find something for her…"

"Thanks! I need to get her quietly though, so you want to be sneaky?" Asuka's eyes glittered and she nodded. Lin grinned, handing her the pokéball as she enlarged it.

"You see that table with the fruit on it? No, the other one. I need you to toss this under the table and feed Pika some fruit while I keep a look out for Chopper for you."

"Under the table… Fruit. Got it!" Asuka chirped as she ran to the table and tossed the pokéball under it, glancing around quickly to see if anyone saw the flash. She then looked thoughtfully at the table as she contemplated the choices.

"Hmm… Which fruit would Pika-chan like…?" Said pikachu blinked in confusion at her surroundings before her stomach responded to the overwhelming smell of food, and she scampered off to another table.

* * *

Nami walked casually among the tables, Sanji beside her. She had eventually decided to leave Luffy to his own devices, as the town seemed to know him. It was a nice change, really. For once, they didn't have to watch their captain and fear the possibility of the town chasing them out for his antics. Her thoughts were interrupted by Sanji.

"Nami-san, they had some fruit dishes on those tables over there." He pointed to a nearby section. There were about four tables of fruit dishes, with a fair amount of people around them. Nami and Sanji walked to the one that had the least amount of people, which happened to consist mainly of apples and oranges. There were some ladies at nearby tables, chatting.

"I heard Dr. Ookami took her in and she was out for a few days." The first lady said.

"I wonder if she's still out? I can't imagine anyone waking up after falling from so high up…" Another said, nibbling some pastry. One of the ladies tittered.

"Well I think she's out and about, and definitely weird! I saw it happen, you know." The other two ladies stared at her. The first lady asked

"So what happened then?" The third lady seemed to enjoy the attention.

"So the mayor was just minding his own business when everyone heard some screaming. We looked up, and some weird girl dressed in black falls right on top of him! One of those pirates came along and took her away. I bet that she's some kind of spy for the Government." The lady concluded her story with a hard nod. Nami sighed at the gossip and turned back to the table, then noticed there seemed to be a lot less food on it than before.

Nami reached for a small orange before a yellow blur whisked it away. She blinked. "Eh?" Turning to Sanji, who happened to find yet another beautiful woman, she asked "Sanji-kun?" Sanji was immediately at her side.

"Yes, Nami-swan?"

"There's something weird around here. Watch." Sanji looked at the table as Nami reached for another orange. Like before, a small yellow blur made the orange disappear. Sanji blinked rapidly as he took another puff on his cigarette.

"The hell was that??" He took on a 'heroic knight' tone. "Not to fear, Nami-san! I shall catch it!" Sanji focused intently as Nami watched impatiently. Carefully reaching for an orange, he instead grasped to the left as a blur materialized. "Gotcha!"

Nami blinked as she caught a glimpse of a large yellow mouse with an odd tail and long, pointy ears. Unfortunately, Sanji happened to grab the tail.

"Grk!!" An electric shock went through him and he quickly let go, the small creature jumping onto the ground in front of Nami. Nami 'eeped' as Sanji stumbled back, glaring at the animal. "You shitty rat!!"

Its eyes narrowed.

* * *

Lin was, to her credit, keeping an eye out for Chopper, Robin, or Usopp. In fact, she had most definitely spotted Sanji when he began flirting with a random woman next to her. But she hadn't officially met him, and neither had Asuka, so she tried to ignore him for the most part.

Lin was distracted, however, when she recognized Nami at the fruit tables puzzling about something. Nami then called Sanji over as they stared at something on the table. Before Lin could look to see, Asuka ran up to her, panic on her face.

"Sky-nee-san! Pika-chan ran off! She was just under the table and then-"

"PIKACHUUU!!!"

"AAARGH!!!" Lin's eyes widened at the yell as she turned to see Sanji being roasted by Pika. Lin cursed under her breath as she snatched the pokéball keychain from Asuka. She quickly enlarged it as she saw Sanji getting back up, a furious expression on his face. She barely registered Asuka running away as she ran towards Pika.

"Pika! Return!" She pointed the pokéball at Pika just as Sanji wound up for what Lin knew would be a devastating attack.

Nami turned and her eyes narrowed as she saw a girl point a small object towards Sanji. Before she could warn him, however, she noticed a red beam heading for the small creature. The beam hit it directly, and it let out a confused "Pika?" before the beam dissolved the creature, retreating into the object. Sanji lowered his foot and blinked at the empty space the creature had been in.

Both Nami and Sanji turned to see the girl (a villager, Nami presumed) letting the arm that had been holding up the object fall with a relieved sigh. She pushed the button in the middle of the ball, making it shrink. Nami stared at her as she inspected the now small object carefully. Telling Sanji sternly to stay there (he was more concerned with the girl than the recent development) she walked up to the girl and asked "Who are you?"

The girl was so preoccupied with looking over the object she didn't seem to expect Nami, squeaking in shock and fumbling with the object as it dropped to the floor. The girl bent down to retrieve it and looked back at Nami sheepishly.

"S-sorry!" Nami looked at her oddly before smiling kindly.

"What are you sorry about? You got rid of that rat, right? A little cruelly, but I'm not complaining." The girl looked at her in shock before understanding passed over her face.

"Oh… That's why she was upset…" Nami stared at her.

"She?" The girl nodded.

"The ra-err, the pikachu. She hates it when people call her a rat and she kind of attacks when that happens. Really sorry about that, I should have been watching her more carefully." Seeing Nami's confused look, she adjusted her hat and straightened herself.

"My name's Lin and the creature is Pika. I didn't get rid of her, but I can see why you thought that…" Lin trailed off at the look on Nami's face. "Here, she's okay, see?"

Lin pushed the button on the mystery object (Nami was hanging around Luffy too long that she began referencing to the object as a mystery internally) and Nami watched as it grew to the size of a baseball. Taking a few steps back, she gave the mystery object a small toss to the ground in front of her.

Nami watched incredulously as the object opened and a white light spilled out, taking the form of the creature they had seen before it materialized. Sanji, who had been watching from a distance, noticed the creature was back and right in front of Nami.

Lin blinked as Sanji seemed to materialize in front of Nami, glaring at Pika. Lin barely had time to curse under her breath as Sanji slammed his foot directly onto the ground where Pika was; or rather, had been. Pika completely vanished as the ground where it had been formed into a small crater, causing several nearby people to yell and run off.

Pika appeared on the table beside Sanji as Lin was dragged away by Nami, cursing up a storm. Pika's eyes narrowed as she glared at Sanji, then she glanced off to the side where Nami was still pulling a struggling Lin. Pika's eyes widened and she rushed towards her, only to be stopped by a black-clad leg. Sanji smirked at Pika.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

* * *

"Ow! Dammit, let me go! Why the hell is he fighting her?!" Nami pulled Lin to a nearby alley and shoved her down, glaring at her.

"What is wrong with you?! First you summon that thing and now-"

"Pika's a pokémon! Not some sort of demon or familiar!" Nami glared at Lin, hands on hips.

"Explain. Now."

"But Pika-"

"Will have to hold her own against Sanji-kun until you can convince me to call him off."

Lin cursed and rushed to explain as Sanji fought Pika.

* * *

Meanwhile Sanji was hard-pressed to catch Pika. Slamming his foot onto the table nearby, he watched as she disappeared and materialized onto another table, which was quickly destroyed as well. He cursed as she appeared behind him, sparks manifesting in her cheeks.

"PIKACHU!" A bolt of lighting struck Sanji's foot as he raised it to attack. While the electricity was mainly absorbed into the rubber of his shoe, there was still a bit of a jolt and Sanji backed away a bit. He waited for the next attack, but Pika was standing there with a lost expression in her face as she kept glancing back to where Nami had taken Lin.

Sanji took advantage of this and snap kicked Pika, sending her into a nearby building.

Waiting for her to get back, he thought carefully about his opponent. _'Quick as lightning, but sent flying easily. Seems to be waiting for something before it attacks; almost as if it can't fight for itself very well.'_

Pika coughed as she shook herself, glaring at Sanji. She seemed to resolve something in her head and she disappeared again, this time heading straight for Sanji and tackling him. Sanji rolled gracefully and stood back up as Pika's cheeks surged with electricity. She lowered her head and growled as Sanji dashed towards her.

* * *

"Doctor Chopper!! Where are you?!" Asuka ran through the streets, searching everywhere for the reindeer. Finally spotting a pink top hat, she ran up and grabbed Chopper's arm, causing him to drop all of the food he was carrying. Chopper whirled, his eyes widening as he saw Asuka, and swallowed the mass in his mouth.

"A-Asuka??" Asuka beamed at the recognition, but forced herself to stay focused. She tugged at Chopper and began to drag him away, not noticing the man in the straw hat watching her curiously.

"Some guy with a spinning eyebrow is attacking Pika-chan!" Chopper's eyes widened and he turned to see Luffy standing there with his head tilted slightly.

"Nah, Chopper, who's this?" Chopper shook his head and began to run in the direction Asuka had come from, where a suspicious amount of people were fleeing.

"No time, Luffy! Sanji's attacking my friend!" Luffy's eyes widened and he ran in the same direction, his speed easily overlapping Chopper's and Asuka's as he ran off.

"SANJIII!!!"

* * *

Franky and Robin looked in a direction curiously as they heard the sounds of battle. Franky listened to the various contact noises as he scratched his head thoughtfully. "Sounds like Cook-bro's fighting again. Who's he fighting, though? Doesn't sound like Swordsman-bro…"

Robin's eyes widened slightly as a cry of "PIKACHU" reached them. Crossing her arms, she muttered "Ojo Fleur". Franky looked at her curiously.

"So? Who's he fighting? Are there marines here?" Robin said nothing but instead hurried in another direction. Franky ran after her. "Oi, wait up! What's the matter?"

Robin simply began running. "There seems to be a bit of friendly fire."

* * *

"Pokémon trainer?" Lin nodded hurriedly. "…You?"

"Oi! It's true!" Lin huffed indignantly. Nami stared at her.

"…Liar." Lin seemed to flail about for a second.

"It's true! I swear! Pika and I are really from a different dimension! That thing was a pokéball, used to capture pokémon! If you just would listen to me-" Lin began to stand but quickly sat back down when Nami pointed her Clima Tact at her.

"You stay right there! If you aren't from this island, then I have to assume that you're a World Government Agent! Or even a witch and that thing is your familiar; why else would you wearing so much black? And what's with that weird hair?"

Lin glared as she sharply retorted "I happen to like black! Why is your hair orange; are you some kind of fairy??" The Tact began to charge with electricity. "Ack! Sorry! It's just a dye job!"

Nami let the electricity die out as she glared sharply at Lin. "Even if you weren't from this world, how do you know about us pirates?"

"Yesterday I met this reindeer! The family that I'm staying with has a daughter that is apparently a fan of his, so when she ran off and met him, he came to the house! He and his friends came and we all talked about it! Honest!"

Nami slowly lowered her Clima Tact. "… What were their names? The reindeer and his friends?"

"Chopper was the reindeer; there was a lady named Robin and some long-nosed guy named Usopp." Lin waved frantically at Nami, who stared at her and put down her weapon. Nami glared at Lin's look of confusion.

"I still don't believe you about the other world thing, but the Government still doesn't have an official picture of Sogeking without his mask. Your story checks out; Chopper talked about a fan of his inviting the three of them over to her house." Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks…" Nami watched her suspiciously. Lin stood up slowly, eyeing her weapon critically. She bowed her head towards Nami.

"I'm… really sorry about Pika. She just has a temper, especially when being called a rat. Just ask Usopp, he called her a rat yesterday and was completely fried." Nami chuckled despite herself.

"I believe it. But don't think that Sanji-kun's just going to be fried and it'll be over. He's made of tougher stuff than that." Lin nodded.

"I believe you, that's why I'm worried. A pokémon doesn't usually battle on its own; the trainer tells it which moves to use in a traditional battle." Lin turned to the end of the alley worriedly, where the sounds of battle could be heard.

"Pika's a great friend, even if I haven't known her that long at all. I just don't want her to get hurt."

* * *

"Zoro-san? Where are you going?" Brooke and Usopp watched as Zoro ran in a random direction. Zoro turned and stopped to see the musician standing nearby with a plate of takoyaki in his bony hand. Usopp seemed to hiding from something as he practically shadowed Brooke.

"Stupid love-cook's fighting, and I'm bored as hell. I want to see if some of those marines from Raftel followed us." Brooke looked at him curiously.

"Is that what those sounds were? Usopp and I nearly jumped out of our skin when we heard those… Although I'm nothing but bones… SKULL JOKE!! YOHOHOHO~!" Usopp turned to Brooke, slapping the air in front of him.

"Oi."

Zoro shrugged as he began to run again. Usopp called out "Zoro! The noises are in the other direction!"

"Shut up!"

* * *

"Chu…" Pika glared at Sanji, who glared back. Pika was covered in various bruises and was laying in front of Sanji, but still glaring determinedly. Sanji, on the other hand, was looking more and more like Luffy's favorite barbeque, but was nonetheless on top. He eyed Pika curiously as he took a puff on his cigarette. "Why are you trying to get to the ladies so hard? I won't let you touch them!"

"Pikapi!"

"… Right. Nevermind, then." Sanji was about to continue attacking when a distant yell sounded in the distance. Tilting his head to the side, his eye widened and his face blanched when he realized what it was. "… Shit."

"Gomu gomu no… ROCKET!!!" Sanji was immediately blown away by a red and blue blur and thrown into the side of a building. Pika carefully stood and looked at where the man had stood a second before. "Pi?"

"Pika-chan!!" Chopper ran up to Pika in walk point, Asuka riding on his back. Asuka scurried down and picked up Pika carefully, tears in her eyes. "Pika-chan…"

"Pika! Asuka!" Chopper looked to see Lin come out of a nearby alley, Nami following. Lin's eyes widened as she took in her surroundings, and she immediately ran to Pika and Asuka. "Asuka?? Where'd Sanji go?" Chopper pointed to a nearby collapsed building, where two figures where slowly getting up.

"You… Shitty gomu captain…" Sanji glared at Luffy, who was standing and watching Chopper tend to Pika. Pika looked around frantically, ignoring Chopper as he tried to make her lay down. Lin came into Pika's view, and Pika threw herself at Lin. Sanji's eye widened and he moved to defend her, but Luffy held him back, looking at him curiously.

"What are you doing Sanji?" Sanji tried to pry him off.

"That girl's about to be… Eh?" Sanji trailed off as he took in the scene. Lin was holding Pika tightly, gently stroking her as she rocked her back and forth. There was a look of utmost relief on her face, and Pika seemed to be extremely happy. Sanji and Luffy walked up slowly as Pika smiled.

"Pika pikachu."

"Pika says she thought Lin was kidnapped by some orange fairy. She tried to stop her, but some swirly guy kept attacking her." Chopper explained. Nami and Sanji shared a look.

"Oh."

Sanji ran up to Lin and practically threw himself at her feet. "Ah, my dear! Can you ever forgive me for my ignorance??" Lin glared at him as Asuka ran up to Sanji.

"You're the one that hurt Pika-chan you big meany!" Asuka began kicking Sanji's head as Chopper panicked.

"Asuka! He's injured too, please!"

"OI! What's going on here??" Franky and Robin arrived on the scene, Robin's eyes widening slightly as she took in Pika's condition. She walked up to Lin as she was putting Pika down carefully.

"Lin-san, what happened to Pika-chan?" Lin had Pika lay down while Chopper looked her over.

"Sanji apparently called Pika a rat and she attacked him. Nami got me out of the way as they fought, and Pika thought I was being kidnapped. I guess Sanji thought Pika was trying to go after us." Chopper stood and looked at Pika warily.

"I'll have to move her to where my backpack is; I left it at the tavern. Can you move her without disturbing her injuries?" Lin nodded, taking out her pokéball. Nami eyed the thing.

"What does that do, exactly?" Lin pressed the button and aimed it at Pika while she explained.

"It's an invention that converts pokémon to energy and stores them." Luffy watched her aim at Pika curiously.

"So it's a mystery-"

"Pika! Return!" Luffy was cut off as a red light dissolved Pika and sucked her into the pokéball. His eyes widened and he made an odd choking noise.

"…!!" Lin shrank the pokéball and eyed him warily as she put it in her pocket.

"What's the matter with him?"

"…Su…SUGOIIIII~!!! A BEAM! A BEAM SHOT OUT!! A BEAAAAAMMM~!!!!" Lin jumped back as Luffy began dancing around in his excitement, Chopper sitting on the ground with similar sparkles in his eyes. Franky eyed the device with a gleam in his eye and Robin looked at it curiously.

"So that's how you recall her…" Nami walked up to Robin.

"Robin, did you really meet her yesterday?" Robin nodded.

"Hai, the little girl was a fan of Chopper, and they invited us to her house." Nami hmmed, watching Lin slowly back away from Franky as he began interrogating her on the mechanics of the pokéball.

"I-I don't know how it works; honestly! All I know is how to use it!" Luffy ran up to Lin.

"It shoots out a beam; a beam!! What more could you want??" Luffy began to poke the pokéball in Lin's hand. "Where'd the mystery mouse go? Why did it turn into the beam? What is that thing??" Lin backed away from Luffy's enthusiasm. Asuka looked at Chopper curiously.

"Is that your captain…?" Chopper nodded. Asuka ran up to Luffy and tugged on his vest eagerly. Luffy looked down and stared at the little girl, tilting his head and squinting his eyes.

"Eh? You're that girl that knows Chopper?" Asuka made a little bow.

"My name's Ookami Asuka! Nice to meet you!" Franky and Nami looked down at the little girl. Simultaneously, they smiled.

"Aw, she's so cute~!" Sanji looked at Franky oddly, who coughed to hide his embarrassment.

"… What? She is!" Asuka giggled at them as Luffy grinned.

"My name's Monkey D. Luffy and these are my nakama! Although there's three more…"

"Eh? We missed the action…"

"Th-that's okay! Looks like there was some big battle… Eh? Lin and Asuka are here?"

"Yohohoho~! Ah ladies; I hope neither you nor your panties were harmed in the battle! Would you like me to check?" A fist slammed into him and he collapsed. Lin was officially freaked out by this crew, and if it weren't for Pika needing medical attention, she would have run for the hills. Usopp walked up to Lin, carefully avoiding Nami as she towered over the fallen skeleton.

"Hey Lin! What happened here? Where'd Pika go?" Lin held up the pokéball and explained.

"Eh?? Sanji fought Pika?? Poor Pika…" Lin nodded and eyed Nami.

"Um, is the skeleton alright? He hasn't gotten up in a while…" Usopp shrugged.

"We never know." Zoro didn't seem to particularly care about Brooke as he looked around thoughtfully.

"So what's going on here?" Luffy turned and grinned at Zoro.

"Nothing~!" Zoro shrugged.

"Eh, whatever. Who're those guys?" He asked, indicating Asuka, who was staring at Brooke (who had most likely died all over again with how still he was being), and Lin, who looked like she wanted to run far, far away from this insanity.

Asuka spoke up, repeating her introduction. "My name's Ookami Asuka! And this is Sky-nee-san! Nice to meet you!" Zoro stared at Asuka a bit, before turning to Lin.

"… Your name's Sky?" Lin shook her head.

"No, my name's Lin. She just calls me that." Lin shuffled uneasily, turning to Chopper. "Um, the pokéball doesn't heal pokémon; it just stores them in the same state they were in." Chopper made a small 'o' with his mouth and turned to Luffy.

"Luffy! I need to treat Pika at the tavern still!" Luffy grinned.

"Yosh! Right! You and the girls and Brooke go! We'll stay and fix everything!" He turned as Franky and Zoro shrugged and began picking up various pieces of table. Brooke went over to the girls (after mysteriously healing) and immediately began to interrorgate the ladies about their panties.

Usopp instead went with them, as Brooke was out of comission and would most likely not get up for a while.

Zoro looked and saw Sanji nearly barbequed and discouraged. "What's wrong, ero-cook? You play with one too many fires?" Sanji glared as he began picking up wood.

"None of your business!"

* * *

The walk to the tavern was awkward, and Lin felt more and more uncomfortable. Asuka was walking beside her, holding her hand and walking beside Chopper, who was walking besides Usopp. Robin and Nami were in the back, talking about some things.

"Robin, is she really from another world?"

"It would appear so, Nami-chan." Nami turned and looked at Lin, who was fidgeting slightly.

"Is that even possible?"

"I believe so; she spoke of a whole other geography. Not to mention, she's been the talk of the town since she fell from the sky." Nami looked at Robin, startled.

"She's that girl? So that's why the little girl calls her that…" Robin continued.

"Not to mention, this isn't the first time we've dealt with this kind of thing."

"What? When did- _Oh_, you're talking about…"

"Yes, I believe that could be the cause."

"But why would-"

**BOOM!!!**

A loud explosion cut off any further conversation. Lin and Chopper stopped and stared ahead. Asuka spoke up first. "That… Sounded like it was coming from the tavern…" Usopp began quaking.

"Y-You guys go on ahead. I'll watch Asuka back here." While the rest of them knew it was more out of self-preservation, they nonetheless agreed and Usopp took Asuka to a nearby alley.

The rest of them quickly ran ahead to the tavern, where a large figure was coming out of the dust from the explosion. There was a long marine coat draped around his shoulders, and it flared dramatically from some unknown wind. The man was tall and broad, walking slowly towards them with his features hidden by a jackal cap on his head as he kept his face down. He slowly raised an arm, finger pointing at the group as the dust slowly settled (dramatically).

"**Where is Monkey D. Luffy?**"

* * *

So yeah. I put in another quote to make this chapter look all badass. It wasn't the best, but it was the most appropriate one I could find immediately. If you guys have a better one, or some other epic saying that you will share, lemme know! :3

I do like the last part, I'll admit. The very, very, very last part. Credit to SilverStar94 who helped me get the mystery figure in here. Cookies to those who can guess who that is! I don't think I made it too hard, it might even be too easy... -.-;;

So? Did you see the whole Pika and Sanji thing coming? I love Sanji and all (30 Days of SaNa by dandywonderous made me love him even more) but for some reason this was the only idea that I could think of to get them together and not in a total Marysue-ish way. Nami does look like a fairy, doesn't she? :P

I found another story that has another 'OMG-I'm-A-Pokémon-Trainer' girl in it, but there wasn't too much focus on the pokémon themselves (except for Luffy trying to eat her Swablu) so maybe you guys will believe me when I say I wasn't trying to rip her off. :D

Oh well. Happy Birthday Shanks! I didn't get you anything, but I still love you~!

Review yo. Review.

**PS: I edited the first chapter, the part that introduces Lin. Be sure to check that out later! Plus I'm adding quotes to the other chapters and editing them too! Fun~! :D**


	8. New Era

Whew! Another chapter! This one's a bit shorter than the last one, but I couldn't really drag it out much more. I edited the previous chapters (mostly just putting in some quotes) but I rewrote the first part of the first chapter, when I introduce Lin. Be sure to let me know how I did on that!

So! I finally finished One Piece: A Smash Adventure! And boy, did it end **_epically!_** Specter24 finishing it despite it being so long and writing it for almost three years is really inspiring, you know? Makes me want to finish this badly! I'll most likely cut off Horizons when they enter the Grand Line, then start a new story from there! After all, this story is already kind of long and I haven't even gotten to the next hometown!

On that note, will someone tell me about Zoro's hometown? I don't know the name, or where it's located. I found a map of the East Blue on One Piece Wikia, but I can't tell where Zoro's town would be! Help?

So in this semi-advertisement semi-credit section, I'll tell you about 'Ripping Seams' by DoilyRox, and 'Bink's Sake: The Song Uniting The Past & Present' by Mikihisa 'Thunderwolf' Uematsu. Long names...

Ripping Seams is a story about Patches Avy, a stylish Rider that meets Luffy in the very beginning. Yes you people, it's one of _those_ stories. But I felt this one was a bit different. For one, the OC is very beautifully characterized with her own set of problems and comical fashion criticisms. For another, it provides insight to the characters as they're introduced in a way that I have yet to see elsewhere. Add in the concept of Riders, a whole other system that adds a whole new area for Avy's new captain, and I think you guys will enjoy this story!

Bink's Sake: The Song Uniting The Past & Present is another good read. It's a short one shot about Brooke _finally_ meeting up with Laboon, something that I am very hard-pressed to find! Don't let the M rating fool you, it doesn't even have a single cuss word, let alone anything that suggests the story is above even a K rating. ._.;; We may never know.

So on with the story! ... I'm most likely forgetting- OH! Right, the disclaimer. :D

I do not own One Piece. I also forgot to mention that I do not own Pokémon either. I technically don't even own Pika, who, because of her species, is categorized into the 'I don't own Pokémon' section.

* * *

"**We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter's evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true."**  
**~Woodrow Wilson**

Shanks had been simply walking along, literally minding his own business, when the screams came. At first he thought nothing of them; pirate attacks were common in the Grand Line and many still screamed like little girls when their towns were attacked.

It was after a look from his first mate when Shanks remembered that he wasn't on the Grand Line, he was in Fuchsia Village. And pirate attacks in Fuchsia were few and far in between. So he had decided to see what was wrong; and maybe catch a bit of the fight.

It was while running to the scene that he had met the mayor, who had looked insultingly surprised at not seeing him being the cause of the scene. The mayor ran alongside Shanks as he scowled up at him.

"Shanks! This is your crew's doing, isn't it??" Shanks rolled his eyes as he turned a corner.

"I told you that all of my nakama promised not to fight! Did you ever consider mountain bandits?" The mayor glared.

"We haven't had too many problems with bandits since Higuma. The rest were scared off by Dadan. So then…" The mayor trailed off as his gaze darkened. "This must be Luffy's doing, damn that brat!" Shanks was about to protest in Luffy's defense until he reached the scene.

"Oh, hey there Mayor! Hiya Shanks!" The entire block was a wreck. There were pieces of table and food scattered everywhere, and entire walls collapsed all around. Luffy was carrying some scrap wood from the tables over to Franky, who was constructing wall panel after wall panel at a rapid pace. Sanji and Zoro were putting up the wall panels to the buildings, where Brooke would lightly run on the rooftops and hammer them in place. It was going splendidly, but the mayor did not seem appeased. The short man's face turned the most interesting shade of red as Shanks admired their teamwork.

"LUFFY!!!" Luffy winced as he brought the wood to Franky, who had paused in his work to look at the mayor. Sanji, Zoro, and Brooke soon ran out of wall panels to put together and joined Franky to watch the mayor explode.

"You… YOU BRAT!!! I let you back in my town even after you disgrace us all, and how do you repay me??? YOU'VE COMPLETELY DESTROYED THE BLOCK!!! I should have known not to let you _or_ your pack of freaks into my town!" Luffy remained silent as the mayor continued, his hat shading his eyes. The crew watched Luffy curiously to see what he would do while Sanji looked away guiltily, biting hard on his cigarette. Why wasn't Luffy saying anything?? It was his own fault, Sanji knew, that Luffy was being scolded by the mayor, who he had apparently been on thin ice with from the beginning.

The mayor was just running out of breath when another man ran on the scene.

"Mayor-san! Have you seen my daughter?? Some of the villagers said that they had seen her go this- WAGH, WHAT HAPPENED HERE???" The man gaped at the damage around him, taking a few double-takes at Brooke, then continued.

"But where's Lin-san?? She was taking care of Asuka-"

"Oh, you mean the little doctor-sis? And the girl that was with her?" Franky interrupted. The man turned so quickly the crew could hear a few cracks from his spine.

"Yes! Asuka and Lin! Where are they??" Shanks looked confused.

"What's going on here?" The mayor turned to Shanks and growled.

"That stupid girl that fell from the sky and landed on me turned out to be some sort of alien! Yamada here took her in with his daughter Asuka." Luffy's eyes shone and he laughed loudly.

"HAHAHAHA~! I _knew_ that would happen if you kept saying it! I told you~! HAHAHAHA!!!" Luffy cackled as the crew look at each other in interest. Zoro spoke up first.

"Alien? She seemed normal enough…" Yamada shrugged.

"I believe she's actually a trans-dimensional human." Luffy stopped laughing and tilted his head to the side.

"So… She's a he?" A foot pounded his head into the ground.

"YOU WILL NEVER MENTION TRANSVESTITES EVER AGAIN!!!" Sanji practically roared as he withdrew into himself, muttering words not even he understood. Brooke carefully patted his back as Zoro looked back and snorted; but not even he was cruel enough to bring up Kamabakka Island. Franky simply shook his head sadly as Luffy popped up from the dirt, looking none the worse for wear.

"So… She's from a mystery place!" Luffy pounded a fist into his palm, nodding to himself at his conclusion. The rest of the crew (minus Sanji) slapped their hands against their forehead.

"Oi." Shanks laughed outright at them while the mayor and Yamada seemed confused from the display. Yamada shook himself and said

"But where did they go??" Luffy turned and pointed in a random direction.

"They were taking care of the mystery mouse, so Chopper, Usopp, and the girls all went to the tavern." The mayor paled significantly. Yamada looked at him curiously.

"Mayor-san, what's the matter?" Suddenly Shanks and Luffy stiffened as a faint explosion sounded off in the distance. Zoro frowned and drew his sword and inch.

"What was that?" Luffy didn't answer but instead began to run towards the noise. Shanks groaned and followed as the crew ran along.

"Luffy-san! Why are we running??" Brooke called, dragging Sanji behind. Luffy ran on, yelling back

"Gramps is here!"

* * *

Chopper and the girls backed up as the figure grinned maniacally, holding his arms in a sort of 'Eureka!' pose. "So… I've finally cornered the infamous- Eh, wait. Where's Luffy?" The figure dropped his stance and looked up, finally exposing his face.

Chopper gasped. "It's Luffy's grandpa!" Garp scowled, throwing his jackal cap down on the ground in disappointment.

"Damn! I went through all that trouble to make a big entrance for my grandson, and he isn't even here! Stupid, ungrateful…" He began muttering to himself as the crew and Lin sweat dropped. Nami stepped up, hands on her hips.

"What are you doing here?" Garp seemed genuinely surprised at the question.

"Why, I'm here to visit my beloved grandson, of course! Plus this town can't have a proper party without me! Bwahahaha!!" He began laughing to himself, the sudden mood swing making them sweat drop even more. Lin stared a bit before reminding herself that she did _not_ know who the man was (or at least not to the crew's knowledge).

"Um, Robin? Who's that?" Robin turned and explained.

"That is Luffy's grandfather, Monkey D. Garp. He's a vice admiral in the marines." Lin did her best to look confused.

"But I thought Luffy was a pirate. How did that work out?" Robin and Chopper shrugged. Nami, on the other hand, was looking around thoughtfully. Her eyes suddenly focused on a nearby rooftop.

"There you are! Get down here you two!" Lin could just make out a muffled groan and two figures seemed to appear next to Garp, who was slowly getting over his little joke. Lin instantly recognized them as Coby and Helmeppo. Coby waved.

"Hello, Nami-san. Robin-san. Chopper-san. Who's this?" Coby looked at Lin curiously and Lin shuffled her feet nervously.

"My name's Lin. Nice to meet you…?" Coby chuckled slightly, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"I'm Coby and this is Helmeppo. I'm sorry about this whole scene. Garp-san was trying to come up with some new entrances, so Helmeppo-san and I had to hide until it was over." Garp moaned.

"And it was a really good one too! I'll have to save that for later… So where is that blasted grandson of mine?" A sound that sounded distinctly like a rubber band went off in the distance along with a "GOMU GOMU NO…" Garp grinned.

"Speak of the devil…"

"ROCKET!!!" Garp held out a hand behind him and Luffy slammed into it, causing his hat to fly forward into Nami's face. "There you are you little twerp!"

Luffy tried to speak around the large hand that was crushing his (thankfully rubber) head. "Grmph Mmnr…" Garp shook Luffy before throwing him down much like he had with his cap.

"Speak up boy!!" Luffy rubbed his face and pouted.

"What are you doing here, Gramps??" Garp looked wounded for a second but quickly grew angry. He slammed his fist down on Luffy's head.

"I AM YOUR GRANDFATHER; YOU WILL SHOW MORE RESPECT WHEN I COME TO CONGRATULATE MY BELOVED GRANDSON!!!" Luffy crouched on the ground in pain, tears in his eyes, as the crew silently watched (although with a bit of bemusement). Lin watched Garp yell at Luffy for a bit then sank slowly to the ground, wrapping her arms around her knees in a fetal position. Robin and Nami noticed.

"Lin-san? Daijoubu?" Lin didn't respond, but instead began muttering to herself as she slowly rocked back and forth.

"Crazy, that's what this place is. Crazy like every nightmare in the world jumbled in to some sort of twisted parody and wrapped up in some sort of sick, masochistic humor. Crazy people, crazy marines, crazy pirates, crazy crazy crazy crazy crazy-" A fist slammed into her head and she lay twitching on the ground.

"Pain…" Nami sighed, standing above her with her fist still held up from when she had hit Lin, Luffy's hat clenched in the other hand.

"We finally meet someone who has the proper response to us, and it had to be at the most improper time." Robin chuckled slightly, while Chopper hurriedly checked Lin for head damage. Coby and Helmeppo stood off to the side nonchalantly, used to the crew's odd behavior. Helmeppo cleared his throat.

"Eh, new crew member?" Nami shook her head.

"Nah, her friend just needs some medical treatment." Coby smiled at Chopper, who had officially written off the large bump on Lin's head as non-lethal.

"Then it's a good thing you have Chopper-san here! I remember hearing amazing stories from an island we had passed by about a certain reindeer doctor." Chopper wiggled joyfully.

"Bastard! You're just saying that~! *giggle*" Anything else was cut off as the rest of the crew, Yamada, Woop Slap, and Shanks finally arrived on the scene. Yamada gasped upon seeing Lin on the ground.

"Lin-san!" He ran up to her. "What happened?? Where's Asuka?" Lin raised her head slowly.

"Asuka's with Usopp, he stayed behind with her when we heard the explosion. And I'm fine, just brought out of hysterics… again…" Lin trailed off as she got up, rubbing her head slightly and dusting off her clothes. She fixed her hat back on her head and sweat dropped at the scene before her: Garp and Luffy had fallen asleep, with Garp holding Luffy by the neck down on the ground and fist still cocked for a punch.

Lin's eye twitched a bit before she decided to abandon all hope of ever being sane again. Meanwhile, Woop Slap was working himself up as he surveyed the scene. Namely, the damage to the tavern (he just _knew_ Minatomo would have a fit over the door, which was blown a good twenty yards down the street). Slowly, but surely, turning a brilliant shade of crimson, he finally exploded in a shockwave that resounded all throughout Dawn Island.

"**YOU IDIOTS!!!**"

* * *

Garp, Coby, and Helmeppo carefully cleaned the tavern, not leaving behind a speck of dust under the watchful eye of the mayor. Garp was carting away the remains of the barrels he had used to make his (dramatic) entrance, with Coby and Helmeppo sweeping away the dust that used to be contained in said barrels used to make the (dramatic) veil. Subtly maneuvering himself so he was sweeping next to Coby, Helmeppo whispered

"Hey, Coby." Coby only inclined his head slightly to acknowledge him, diligently working with his broom.

"Why are we sweeping the tavern again when it was Garp-san's idea?" Coby shrugged, glancing back to where the mayor was scolding Garp like a two year old.

"It's probably because the mayor told Garp-san to, and he told us to help him. Not much we can do about that, really." Coby grinned.

"But doesn't it bring back memories? Just like when we first joined the marines, eh Helmeppo-san?"

"LESS TALKING, MORE SWEEPING." Coby and Helmeppo jumped and began sweeping twice as fast.

"Hai Woop Slap-san!"

* * *

"Whew, I can't believe we got away before he noticed me! I may have promised the mayor that _I_ wouldn't fight, but I can guarantee that ossan would have been more than willing to come after me!" Shanks laughed as the group walked along down the street, Luffy walking besides him. Yamada and Lin were looking around for Usopp, who had yet to reappear with Asuka. Suddenly, a voice hissed out from a nearby alley.

"Oi! Is it over?" Lin jumped and turned to see Usopp's nose sticking out from the shadows. She sighed in relief as Yamada came over.

"Yeah, it's good." Yamada ran up to Usopp as he came out, Asuka hiding behind his leg. Asuka brightened upon seeing Yamada.

"Daddy!" She jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. Usopp came out and rested his hands on his knees.

"Whew! That was scary… What happened, anyway?" Lin shrugged.

"Some old marine named Garp came." Usopp threw his arms up, trembling.

"EH??? Luffy's gramps is here??" Lin tried to calm him as they joined the rest of the group, heading back to the tavern now that they were all together. They reached the tavern and were stunned to see it looking the way it was before (if not cleaner than before) and Garp looking down silently while the mayor ranted on about something or another. No one, not even Garp, really cared.

Luffy laughed at seeing the expression on his grandpa's face. "HAHAHAHA! The mayor really chewed you out, eh Gramps?" Garp scowled at him, about to retort until he caught sight of the red headed pirate trying to blend into the wall. His face darkened greatly, and in a split second he was in front of Shanks, fist raised.

"_YOU!!!_" Shanks could barely dodge in time and Garp slammed his fist into the ground where, if not for the Yonkou's speed, a pirate-flavored pancake would have been. Shanks turned quickly to see Garp chasing him again, leaving a deep fissure in the previous crater.

"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT TAINTED MY GRANDSON YOU DAMNED RED HEAD!!!" He chased Shanks, who yelled at him that he wasn't allowed to fight, into the distance as Luffy's crew watched with mild interest. Woop Slap's eye twitched and he ran after them, practically roaring that they had better not destroy the island, let alone the town.

Lin did her best to not let it get to her and nudged Chopper slightly. Chopper shook himself. "Oh, right! Pika!" He pulled Lin's jacket towards the stairs in the back of the room.

"This way." Asuka immediately followed, Yamada tagging along. Luffy and the girls followed and, at a motion from Luffy, Sanji came along as well. The rest looked at each other and shrugged, then proceeded to laze about the tavern.

* * *

"Put Pika on the bed, and I'll get my equipment." Lin nodded and made her way to the bed. Yamada looked at her curiously.

"Lin-san? Who's Pika?" Lin took out her pokéball and enlarged it, giving it a toss to the center of the bed.

"This is Pika." The white light appeared and morphed into the still form of Pika, still bruised and battered from her battle with Sanji. Yamada gasped.

"What happened to it??" Lin softly stroked Pika's head as she put away the pokéball. Sanji looked on guiltily, Nami patting his shoulder.

"There was a… misunderstanding, and Pika got in a fight to protect me. She was a bit out of her league, though." Lin chuckled dryly, no real humor in her voice. Chopper ran in with a small blue backpack with a white 'X' on the back. He opened it and rummaged around before producing a small roll of bandages.

"Help Pika sit up, this'll only be a bit." Yamada looked at Chopper curiously as he began to wrap up Pika.

"Oh, so _you're_ the famous Toni Toni Chopper." Chopper looked at him curiously. Yamada grinned. "I've been following your work, and I must say you are absolutely brilliant." Chopper glanced back to Asuka, who was watching Chopper work, then back to Yamada.

"… Thank… You…" Chopper managed to spit out, then wrapped up Pika at lightning speed and rushed out of the room. Yamada blinked.

"Was it something I said?" Robin smiled.

"In a way, yes. Doctor-san has foul language when complimented." Lin carefully placed Pika down, only to give a start when her eyes started to open. Asuka noticed and beamed.

"Pika-chan! You're okay!" Pika opened her eyes and sat up, blinking wearily at Lin. Lin smiled.

"You feeling okay, Pika?"

"Pikachu." Lin blinked, then called Chopper.

"Chopper, Pika's awake!" Chopper rushed into the room. He noticed Pika beginning to stand.

"AH! PIKA!!! You can't be moving around yet!" He rushed over to Pika and flailed about, eventually making Pika lay back down. Pulling out a stethoscope, he checked Pika's vitals and nodded to himself.

"How do you feel?"

"Pikachu."

"Eh? That's not right…" Lin looked at Chopper curiously.

"What did she say?" Chopper put away his stethoscope, rummaging through his bag.

"Pika said that she feels sluggish, and I didn't even give her anything!" Lin paused, her mouth forming an 'o' as she realized what was wrong. Turning to Nami, she asked.

"Um, Nami? Could you do me a favor?" Nami turned and looked at her curiously.

"Depends what it is, and how much you'll pay." Lin blinked.

"No, it's to help Pika get better! That staff of yours has electricity in it, right?" Nami nodded, remembering when she almost fried Lin with it. "I need you to zap Pika."

Everyone in the room blinked with an "Eh??" Nami glared at Lin, standing above her slightly.

"You would do that to your own pet?? In a body that small, even a weak jolt would kill her instantly!" Lin stood, matching Nami glare for glare.

"First of all, Pika isn't a _pet_, she's my _partner_! In other words, she's my _nakama_! Second of all, Pika is from an electric-based breed of pokémon! She's elemental! A common practice for pikachu to do in the wild is to help injured friends by zapping them with their own attacks! It's how they recharge quickly!" Nami leaned back, a look of realization on her face. Chopper looked at Lin curiously.

"How does she carry electricity?" Lin walked over and pointed at Pika's red cheeks.

"Electricity is stored in her cheeks, building up over time. When she attacks," Lin pointed to Pika's tail. "The electricity travels down her spine and into her tail. Any other part of her body would be affected by electricity like you or me, if not for the fact-"

"That electricity is drawn to itself! I get it; if I zapped her, it would restore her energy!" Nami grinned. Sanji swooned.

"You ladies are so beautiful when you're being smart~!" Pika's eyes jolted open and she sat up quickly, glaring at Sanji. Weak sparks began to fizzle around her cheeks.

"Pika…" Lin yelled.

"No! Pika!" But Pika had already leaped, electricity sparking. She instead slammed into Luffy, who was unaffected by the electric attack. He held up Pika, looking at her sternly.

"Oi, you need to rest until Chopper says you can move!" Carrying the protesting Pika, he plopped her into the bed. "There!" Lin ran over and calmed Pika.

"It's okay Pika, it was just a misunderstanding! He won't hurt you again, _right_??" Lin turned and looked at Sanji. Sanji looked at Pika, who was glaring at him. He looked at Lin, who was still waiting for an answer.

"Of course not my love~! Any friend of yours is a friend of mine!" Lin's eye twitched slightly but she sighed in relief.

"Thank you." Luffy laughed, coming over to Lin.

"You guys are great! Want to join my crew??" Lin paled ever so slightly, but forced herself to remain neutral on the outside. After all, Luffy was known for asking every person who he thought was cool or funny to join his crew, and most of them walked away, right? She shook herself, looking back at Luffy.

Lin gave a somewhat shaky smile and shook her head. "No, thank you." Luffy pouted.

"Why not??" Lin could name quite a few reasons, but she instead settled for

"Because." Robin spoke up then, startling her crew.

"Well, this is different." Nami looked at Robin oddly.

"Hold on, we all know that Luffy asks everyone to join. What's so different about now?" Robin smiled mysteriously.

"Most people give a resolved reason. Lin-san simply said 'because'." Nami looked at Lin, who appeared to be trying to meld with the wood flooring.

"Hmm, you're right…" Luffy slammed a fist into his palm.

"Yosh, you have to give at least three good reasons not to join my crew!" Lin sighed, looking at Luffy.

"Okay then, here they are. One: I don't know you guys well enough to climb into a boat with you and sail away." The crew nodded; it was a fairly good reason. Lin had technically lied, but they had no reason to not believe her, right? She continued.

"Two: You guys are pirates. And while I don't really care about the whole pirates and marines thing, you guys probably get attacked a lot. And I'm a crappy fighter." Sanji wasn't really sure who to support, so he remained silent. They really didn't know that much about Lin, so who were they to deny her evaluation of her skills?

"And three: I need to find a way home." Luffy blinked slightly at that one. He then nodded in understanding.

"Ah, right! The mayor said you were an alien, right?" Lin immediately snapped back

"That's trans-dimensional human!" Luffy shook his head frantically.

"No, no, no! You're not supposed to say that in front of Sanji!" Lin and the crew slapped their foreheads. Lin sighed.

"The point is, I have no idea how I got here! I need to find a way home; I have two jobs to work! I have my apartment and school and the library and that old- OH!!" Lin gave a start. Robin looked at her.

"Remembering something?" Lin nodded.

"I was in the library, talking with this old lady! She dropped her book and I leaned down to pick it up, but then I noticed something under the table!" Luffy looked at her in excitement.

"What was it? Was it meat??" Lin stared at him but shook her head.

"No! It was a hole! There was a tiny little hole, only about this big." Lin held up her fingers in representation of only about one inch. "I looked through it, and there was a blue sky on the other side. The next thing I know, I'm falling." Nami and Robin looked at each other. Robin looked troubled.

"Hmm, that doesn't sound like that…" Lin looked at Robin curiously.

"Like what?"

"Once in our travels, we came across a mist that acted as a gateway to other dimensions and times. It was called the Rainbow Mist." Lin jolted; she remembered the episodes. Not exactly her favorite arc of all time, but she was glad she had seen it now. But Robin was right; small portals weren't part of the Rainbow Mist.

Lin shook her head. "Regardless of the cause, I need to find another portal. Maybe it'll take me home." Yamada spoke up then.

"Lin-san, don't you see? I told you that nothing else appeared or disappeared in this town; so even you agreed that there wouldn't be any more portals around here. You'll have to search other islands." Lin looked absolutely shaken by the implications. "And if what you say about your fighting capabilities is true, then you'd be running around nigh defenseless in the third era of piracy!" Sanji looked at Yamada.

"What do you mean, 'third era?' There's only been two eras; the one after Gol D. Roger, and the one after Whitebeard." Yamada shook his head.

"You guys don't seem to realize just what you've done on a global-scale, do you?" Luffy tilted his head.

"I became the Pirate King, right? And Zoro became the World's Greatest Swordsman, and Nami's got her World Map, and Robin's found the Reno Photograph (that's Rio Poneglyph Captain-san) and Sanji's found the All-Blue, and Franky's sailed around the world in the greatest ship ever, and Usopp's been declared a 'brave warrior of the sea' by Elbaf, and Chopper's the greatest doctor in the world!" Yamada smiled slightly.

"That's exactly what you did; you accomplished your dreams. Do you remember what people in this village told you when you decided to become a pirate, Luffy-san?" Luffy shrugged.

"Yeah, the mayor wouldn't stop telling me that I was bringing shame to the village. But everyone else told me I was being silly!"

"Exactly! You did the impossible and did what you set out to do! Despite what people said about your dreams, you took a chance and achieved them!" Yamada pointed at the crew.

"You have all shown people that even with the entire world against you, even with them laughing at your ambitions and trampling everything dear to you, dreams are still alive! You've started the Era of Dreams, Monkey D. Luffy!"

* * *

Zoro glanced back to the stairs as the group came down, the supposed alien girl carrying the mouse from before. Luffy walked up to Zoro, grinning as usual.

"Nami needs to zap the mystery mouse, and we need to be outside for it to work." Zoro stared at Luffy as Usopp came up to Lin.

"The hell?? I thought you were trying to save Pika!" Lin held Pika a bit closer as she explained. "Oh, elemental? I see. Like a Logia-user." Franky looked at Pika oddly.

"That's a strange creature, alien-sis." Lin glared.

"That's trans-dimensional human! I'm not an alien!!" Franky held up his hands.

"Easy there, it's just a term."

The group followed Nami and Lin, standing back when Lin placed Pika in the middle of the street. Nami turned to Lin as she assembled her Clima Tact.

"How big of a shock?" Lin thought a bit.

"I'm not too sure… It can't be too big, or it will overload Pika's voltage capacity and actually fry her. Can you try a little one first?" Nami nodded, sending bubbles into the sky as a small dark cloud formed above Pika. Holding the last segment of the Tact pointed at the cloud, she sent out a small, thunder-charged bubble.

"Thunderbolt Tempo!" Pika was struck by the lightning, raising a small cloud of dust around her. Lin peered anxiously through the veil.

"Pika?" A small yellow blur ran out of the dust and tackled her. Lin rolled backwards ungracefully, landing on her back. Pika was sitting on her stomach, a grin on her face and looking fully recharged (pun unintended).

"Pikachu!"

"It worked!" Lin beamed as she hugged Pika, scooping her up. Chopper quickly ran over and checked Pika's vitals again.

"Wow, she's doing so much better! You were right, Lin!" Lin smiled slightly. Luffy came over then, smiling widely.

"Yosh, she's all better! _Now_ will you join my crew?" Lin looked at him oddly.

"I gave you my reasons, didn't I? I can't." Luffy frowned.

"But that guy said you needed to search around, right? How will you do that?" Chopper looked up at Lin.

"Do you just not want to go with _us_?" Lin looked taken aback.

"N-No! It's not that I don't _like_ you guys, I just don't _know_ you that well. You all seem like… nice people. Kind of crazy, but nice enough." Lin trailed off as she looked over the perverted skeleton, the cyborg in Speedos, the blue-nosed reindeer, the green-haired Chuck Norris incarnation...

"Yeah, I gotta be honest. You guys are insane." Nami sighed as Robin giggled. Luffy suddenly beamed.

"So I'll just introduce you! Okay." He pointed to Zoro first. "This is Zoro! He's the World's Greatest Swordsman and my first mate!" He pointed to Nami as Zoro nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"This is Nami! She made a map of the entire world and is the greatest navigator!" Nami gave a small wave. "This is Usopp; he's our sniper and liar! He also makes really cool things!" Usopp struck a pose.

"That's Sanji, the greatest chef in the world! Especially when he makes meat! He acts stupid around girls, though." Sanji sprang forward; whether to strangle his captain or noodle-dance around Lin, we may never know. He was instead held back by Robin. "And this is Chopper, the greatest doctor in the world! He's super smart!" Chopper turned bright red and ran straight into the tavern behind him. The group could just make out some curses in the background.

"This is Robin, and she's our ar... Um... Well, she's really smart too! She knows pretty much _everything_." Robin smiled mysteriously. "And this is Franky! He made our really cool ship and even himself!" Franky struck a SUPER pose, never to be confused with any other pose.

This guy is Brooke, a musician that can play _anything_! He's really funny!" Brooke opened his mouth to say something, but immediately snapped it close at a fierce look from Nami. Luffy finally pointed to himself.

"And I'm Luffy, King of the Pirates! Nice to meet you!" Luffy pointed at Lin triumphantly. "Now that you know us, you can join us!" Lin began to realize that Luffy, out of his silly little mind, had already decided her fate. Gaping like a fish, she desperately grasped for her final card.

"But I can barely fight at all! And I told you that-"

"Liar." Lin turned to Zoro, who eyed her critically.

Lin stuttered. "Wha-What are you talking about?" Zoro looked at her full on.

"You do know how to fight. You just don't like to, and it weakens you. You can't make any progress if you continue like that." Lin stood silently, looking stricken. It was true, Lin had been practicing martial arts for the past couple of years; although she was only a green belt, she still did know a bit about fighting.

In retrospect, perhaps attempting a white lie in front of Roronoa Zoro was the dumbest thing she could have done. Luffy declared

"Then it's settled! Welcome to the Mugiwaras, Lin! You too, mystery mouse!" He continued to laugh joyfully even as Lin struggled to keep Pika from attempting to murder their new captain.

* * *

Shanks grinned as he watched the scene from a nearby rooftop. "So that's how Anchor gets his recruits, eh? I couldn't be prouder!" He stood silently, cape flapping slightly as he watched the crew head back for the village square, where the villagers had slowly returned to continue the celebration.

"Hmm, it's getting late. I suppose I need to start preparing for tomorrow." He was about to leave when another figure practically flew into the air.

Shanks yelped as he dodged to the side, the blur just missing him and instead demolishing the chimney behind him.

"DON'T THINK YOU CAN RUN FOREVER YOU DAMNED RED HEAD!! YOU'LL PAY FOR TURNING MY BELOVED GRANDSON INTO A BLOODY PIRATE!!!" Garp roared from the debris, but Shanks had already begun running.

"GET BACK HERE!!!"

Woop Slap huffed and puffed as he ran in front of the building Garp was standing on, Coby and Helmeppo beside him.

"DAMN IT GARP STOP DESTROYING MY TOWN!!" He began running again as Garp ignored him, chasing Shanks again. "Can't you two stop him?!"

"Sorry Woop Slap-san, but Garp-san is _our_ superior. Besides, we couldn't stop him even if we were the Fleet Admiral himself."

The mayor cursed as he ran after Garp, who began yelling about all of the horrible things he would do once he captured Shanks, much to the horror of the people below.

* * *

I must say, I didn't plan for most of this chapter. I just kind of tell my brain the key things I want to happen, then sit back and let the story write itself. But wow, Lin finally joins the Strawhats! Did it happen a bit too quickly, or is it just me? The whole new era thing is something my brain just kind of threw in there, I didn't plan for that either!

I'm reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for school, so some of the characters personalities may be a bit warped. I tried to direct the warps mostly to Yamada (as he isn't as cool as the Strawhats) so if his character seems to flex back and forth, that's why.

You know, I have the hardest time finding any immediate post-Raftel stories that aren't a series of one-shots. Do you guys just not like this concept? Sorry, but I love it! :D

I also must add that if it seems like I'm not giving the Monster Trio enough attention... I just don't want to give them _too much_. My original plans for this story (which were retarded) all focused around Zoro, back when I was going to have pairings in this story, so I'm trying not to let that happen. It's why this whole thing mainly focuses on other Strawhats other than the Monster Trio.

Garp rules~! Review for his sake! And tell me all about your OC's, and your ideas, and about Zoro's hometown! **Especially the location.**

~Linhae


	9. Happy Trails

**EDIT: Sorry about the double post. But the new summary I put was wrong, and this is my pathetic attempt at fixing it. :|**

Eight reviews for the last chapter! That beats my record of six! It may sound pathetic, but it warms my heart nonetheless. I love you guys~! :DDD This chapter has over eight thousand words! For someone who hails from the Danny Phantom category, where the best chapters only had up to a thousand words each, this is a big deal!

If you haven't been keeping up with the recent chapters, I _strongly recommend_ that you do so. Immediately. Reading a post-Raftel story automatically puts you at risk for spoilers, no? And I believe that I have stated, made known, and hinted at not quite so subtly, that this is post-Raftel. I'm trying to keep it as canon as possible, but it will eventually turn out to be an AU when Oda pulls something that no amount of vague and not-even-going-there scenarios can fix. Admittedly, it was a pretty stupid idea to write this story when the manga is right in the middle of the biggest event in One Piece. Oh wellz.

Therefore, in light of the recent chapter, I only have this to say **(Spoiler alert!):**

SPAOFKJOPFIJPWIFJ WAAAGH HOLY HELLLLLLLL!

I have a feeling the manga chapters to come are going to have a bit of a negative effect on this story, seeing how all of the non-strawhat characters of the previous chapters of Horizons are now all in the same place, just waiting to contradict any and all theories I've put out. :|

BUT DO YOU KNOW WHAT? I'M SO HAPPY, I COULDN'T CARE LESS~! XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DIDJA SEE THE LOOK ON THAT ASSHOLE'S FACE WHEN SHANKS BLOCKED HIS PUNCH? IT MAKES THE ENTIRE ARC WORTH READING!

Don't get me wrong, I'm still upset about Ace (still clinging to that last shred of denial, actually) but Shanks is, hands down, the most amazing character of all time. And is, by far, one of the last people I expected to see appear in Marineford. I've read so many theories about what would happen, but this… No one was even close. And that is the beauty of Oda-sensei's work.

Anyway, in this segment of semi-advertisement semi-credit (I think I need a new name D: ) I present to you two classics that the world of One Piece fanfiction would not live without.

First up is 'Ruth Monroe: Not Your Cup O' Tea' by Rosoku. The absolutely insane story of Rue, a psychotic girl with ADD and a tendency to land herself in the strangest situations; namely, Orange Town just as Buggy was invading it. This story deals with more than the simple 'girl joining crew before main storyline', as it adds an entirely new set of baddies and conspiracies that may or may not have something to do with the strange Mark that appears on Rue's hand…

The next story is 'Will of D' by AnimaniacDude. Oh boy, this is one of the very few post-Raftel stories that have more than the simple reunion phase. It follows Luffy as he travels all the way to Raftel only to have his entire crew slaughtered and an empty cavern where the great treasure once stood. Sound depressing? Don't worry, it isn't! A man long thought dead, Gol D. Roger himself, had acquired the power of time travel and hid One Piece in the legendary city of Atlantis, the sunken city once connected to Raftel. With another chance at becoming the Pirate King and the monarchy of the sea itself to deal with as the new wielder of the Mizu Mizu fruit, Luffy rewrites history as he completely starts his journey from scratch, gathering his nakama and even more crew members as he builds his Strawhat Armada and takes on the entire World Government. I can guarantee that you will not find another story like this, and with so many twists and turns and all before the Grand Line this story is an amazing read! WOW, dat's a long sentence! :DDD

Forgive me if I mess up any references; I'm having internet problems, so I have to type everything from memory of how I think it might be. It's a miracle I even remembered those two stories, yo.

I do not own One Piece. I do not own Pokémon. You happy? Jerks. TT

* * *

"**Happy trails to you, until we meet again.**

**Some trails are happy ones,**

**Others are blue.**

**It's the way you ride the trail that counts,**

**Here's a happy one for you."**

**~Dale Evans**

It was when Lin had finally calmed Pika that a loud growl sounded through the air. Everyone immediately turned incredulously to Luffy, who shook his head and pointed at Lin. "Wasn't me!" Lin blushed and meekly held up a hand.

"Sorry, I forgot to eat." Luffy nodded sagely.

"When you are hungry, eat. Yosh, let's go eat some more!" And he led the group towards the town. Lin thought she could hear someone yelling promises of sadistic torture from above, but quickly shook off the notion as they split into groups.

Lin went to some nearby tables with Pika, Nami, Chopper, and the Ookamis. Pika contentedly lay on Lin's hat* as Lin began to eat rapidly. Lin found that she enjoyed potlucks greatly, as home cooked meals taste even better when feeding someone that was hungry.

Asuka and Yamada were conversing with Chopper, the occasional medical term reaching Lin's ears. Nami nibbled on some pastries as Lin's food intake slowly began to decrease. Eventually she had eaten enough to stop her stomach's demands and leaned against the table, satisfied.

"So," Nami began, but stopped. There was a bit of silence.

"... This is... kind of awkward." Lin stated. Nami nodded as Lin handed a nearby fruit to Pika, who ate happily while still perched on Lin's head. Lin hesitated a bit.

"Nami... Is it really okay?" Nami looked questioningly at Lin, who was looking down nervously. She quirked an eyebrow.

"Our captain had to practically force you into joining, and you want to know if it's _okay_?" Nami snorted. "Of course it's okay; why else would we ask?"

Lin smiled slightly, but pressed on. "I suppose what I mean is _why_. Why would you want me on the crew? I admit I got a bit caught up in this whole mess, but that doesn't seem like a good reason." Nami hmmed, tapping her chin thoughtfully. After another bout of silence, she answered

"None of us know exactly why Luffy does half the things he does. He's completely unpredictable, and his reasoning is completely idiotic but..." Nami trailed off with a thoughtful expression. "But his decisions turn out alright, in the end. He seems to have that kind of instinct for people. It hasn't failed since I've first met him, so why should it fail now?"

Nami smiled at Lin. "So if Luffy says that you're nakama, then you'll definitely be nakama." She joined Chopper, leaving Lin to her thoughts.

And while most of these thoughts were whispering that she was well on her way to becoming a Mary Sue, Lin found that she couldn't be happier.

* * *

Yamada sighed in exhaustion as he unlocked the front door, immediately collapsing on the nearest sofa. Lin walked in the house, carrying a sleeping Asuka in her arms and balancing a sleeping Pika on her head. Luckily Pika automatically clung to Lin's hat as she slept.

Lin placed Asuka on the other couch, smiling slightly as Yamada began snoring from his position. It had been a tiring day indeed, what with the running and the meetings and Lin's recruitment. When the celebration had ended late that night, Lin had agreed to meet the crew (_her_ crew, she reminded herself) at the final celebration.

Speaking of which, Shanks had appeared some time earlier, telling people that the final celebration would begin at sundown. He had only gotten so far until Garp had shown up and he disappeared in an instant. There was an awkward silence in the crowd as Garp practically flew after Shanks, but no one seemed to really question it.

Lin carefully tried to pry Pika off her hat, taking it off as she lay on the couch next to Asuka. After a few failed attempts she shrugged to herself and curled up, cuddling the hat (and, consequently, Pika) as she closed her eyes.

Tomorrow was a big day.

* * *

Yamada awoke to an amusing sight. Lin was cuddling the odd mouse-like creature, which was curled up and clinging to her hat. Asuka was clinging to Lin, leaned up against her and sleeping peacefully. A quick look outside showed it was about noon, and Yamada rose silently.

This whole alien thing was turning out interestingly, that was for sure. Yamada couldn't believe the girl's luck at finding a crew to take her in, let alone that the crew consisted of the strongest people in the world. Yamada had only known Lin for a short time, but he had grown fond of the supposed alien, coming to consider her like a second daughter. It certainly helped that Asuka considered her as an older sister.

Yamada trusted Luffy, and he knew that he would never harm Lin. And in a world that was slowly deforming into chaos, Yamada thought that leaving Lin in the care of the Pirate King was the best thing anyone could do. Hopefully, Lin would think so too.

Yamada walked into the kitchen, noting how clean it was, and began to prepare his morning coffee.

* * *

_Lin walked through the town, practically bubbling with happiness. She turned a corner and saw Robin. Running up to her, she smiled._

"_Hey Robin! What's up?" Robin turned and grinned; and while normally the prospect of Robin grinning would immediately terrify people who knew her, apparently she was simply being friendly. Weird._

"_Hi Lin! How are-" An explosion cut her off._

_Lin and Robin turned to see Higuma, apparently alive and with an entire army of mountain bandits (that looked suspiciously like supped up zombies). Robin crossed her arms and scowled, but Lin held up a hand._

"_Let me handle this." As Lin spoke those amazingly badass words, water from the nearby ocean rose and formed into a giant wave, breaking up then and solidifying into thousands of swords, all as sharp as Meitou._

_One of the swords flew down to Lin, who caught it and took a professional stance._

"_ONI GIRI!" Lin moved so fast that any additional swords one might think she would have needed were obsolete, and the entire army went down in a flash. The wave of swords randomly disappeared along with the one she held, and she turned to see the entire crew cheering loudly._

_Zoro came up and hugged her tightly, making her turn red._

"_That was amazing, Lin! You're just as good as I am; no, even better! If Luffy hadn't let you on the crew, I don't know what we… what _I_ would have done!" With that blasphemy said, he held her gently, moving in a way that Lin knew would make any fangirl faint… Closer… Closer-_

"**GWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!****" Lin screamed as she sat up quickly, catapulting Pika across the room. Asuka sat up and yelled in surprise, then quieted down as she noticed Lin.

"Sky-nee-san? Are you alright?" Lin was huddling in a corner, tears in the corner of her eyes and rocking back and forth as she held herself. She was muttering nonsensical things that not even she understood, and looked as though she was going to break down any second. Yamada ran into the room, a mug in his hand.

"Lin-san! Asuka! I heard screaming; is everything-" He cut himself off as he noticed Lin. He sweat dropped.

"… Lin-san?" Lin simply rocked harder. Yamada slowly inched closer until he could just make out her words.

"_I **Mary Sue** tndluoc kniht fo gnihtyna ot tup sa **Mary Sue** reh selbmum, os I tsuj tup ni siht **Mary Sue** sdrawkcab eugolaid. Doog boj no **Mary Sue** gnidaer ti! **Mary Sue-!**_"

"Pika!" Lin was immediately zapped by Pika, who was both annoyed at being catapulted and concerned for her trainer. Lin twitched and fell on her side, but stopped mumbling at last. Asuka and Yamada watched her carefully as she eventually uncurled and sat up, looking dazed. She blinked at noticing the two over her.

"… What happened?" Yamada and Asuka shared a glance. Asuka looked back at Lin.

"Nothing, Sky-nee-san!" Lin looked at Asuka oddly, but shook her head. Taking her hat from Pika, she pulled it on her head as she looked around. Yamada asked

"Would you like some coffee, Lin-san?" Lin shook her head.

"No thanks, Mr. Ookami." Yamada sat on the couch as Lin picked up Pika, sitting on the other couch. Asuka followed and sat next to Lin, petting Pika. Yamada looked carefully at Lin before speaking.

"Lin-san? Are you alright?" Lin looked at him oddly, but then really thought about it. Was she alright?

Was she really alright with joining the most powerful crew in the world? It was, after all, the first symptom of being a Mary Sue. But she supposed another symptom would be being obnoxiously powerful. And the only way to get that way… was it by eating a devil fruit? But Lin had read a few stories where the non-Mary Sue OCs were just fine even with a devil fruit… But she didn't want to resort to that.

"Lin-san… Lin-san. Lin-san!"

"…Eh?" Lin blinked rapidly, then realized she had spaced out again. "… Sorry."

"That's okay. But are you sure about the Mugiwaras?" Lin thought only for a few seconds.

"I think I'm pretty sure. Besides, like you said, what else can I do?" Yamada nodded slowly, and it occurred to Lin that he was trying to reassure himself. He asked

"But do you trust them? For all you know, they could be the stereotypical pirates that run around pillaging villages." Lin grinned slightly.

"Mr. Ookami, you'll have to believe me when I say I'm sure I could trust them with my life."

* * *

Luffy grinned his trademark smile at his crew over brunch.

"Yosh! Today is the last celebration, and then we'll leave this village tomorrow morning with our new crew member. Then we'll head to Shell Town!" The crew, particularly Zoro, looked at Luffy oddly. Franky spoke up.

"What's in Shell Town, Mugiwara?" Luffy grinned.

"Because Zoro's from Shimotsuki Village, right Zoro?" Zoro seemed a bit confused, but nodded as the crew turned to him.

"Yeah, I lived in the dojo just outside the village."

"Nami says that Shimotsuki is just a few days walk inland from there***! You really were lost, Zoro! Shishishi~!" Luffy laughed to himself as Zoro slapped himself in the forehead.

"I was so close that time…" Robin looked at Zoro curiously.

"'That time', Swordsman-san?" Zoro simply turned away, scowling.

"I need to return something to my sensei, anyway. But are we going to simply walk through there? There's still a marine base there, you know. We can't just park the ship and walk away from it." He muttered. Luffy simply grinned.

"We'll be fine! We were fine last time, and it was only me and you and Coby!" His crew looked at him curiously, sensing a story. When Luffy didn't elaborate and instead began to pick off the leftovers, the crew decided that they would find out later. One look from Zoro told them to leave well enough alone.

When Luffy finished his food, he continued. "Then we'll go to Syrup Village, because Usopp has to meet his old crew!" Everyone sans Luffy, Nami, and Zoro looked at Usopp incredulously. Sanji lit a cigarette.

"So you weren't lying about your crew? And the whole saving the beautiful lady thing?" Nami snickered.

"Only if you count three little kids as a crew. But there was actually a nice rich lady that he saved." Usopp posed.

"Well, the great Usopp-sama couldn't leave Kaya to defend herself, could he?" Sanji seemed depressed.

"Even the shitty long nose has a girl waiting for him…" He sighed, then immediately perked up again.

"I'm so glad I have you two, Nami-swan and Robin-chwan~!" He began noodling around the table, much to the annoyance of Zoro. Before they could start fighting, Luffy interrupted.

"And then we'll go to the Baratie! Nami says we have to visit Cocoyashi last, because they added a marine base there." Nami nodded.

"That's right. Because they added a marine base so close to Logue Town, any sign from us and the entire island will be immediately flooded with marines from both bases! If we do happen to get chased off Cocoyashi because of a _certain idiot's_ antics (Luffy sneezed) then we can easily lose them by heading south. While the marines would be busy in Cocoyashi, we could run over to Logue Town while the marine base _there _would still be nearly empty. Thanks to Sunny, we could easily outrun any marine ship!

"After the incident blows over, we'll head up Reverse Mountain." Usopp interrupted.

"But won't the marines follow us over Reverse Mountain?" Nami shook her head.

"The marine's ships aren't designed to properly navigate over the mountain. The only thing they could do is head over the calm belt and attempt to navigate back to Twin Cape. And because it's impossible to navigate backwards on the Grand Line, we can spend as much time at the Twin Capes as we like!" Brooke practically quivered with excitement.

"And I can finally see Laboon again! Yohohoho~! My heart throbs at the thought of our reunion! Although I have no heart… SKULL JO-" Franky punched the skeleton in the head.

"Oi! Skeleton-bro! Don't go ruining the thought with that kind of joke!" Franky sniffled.

"The thought of such a reunion… A reunion between two men, waiting for over fifty years just to see each other!" He began bawling, pulling out his guitar from who-knows-where. "A song! I call it 'The Lament of Friends' Reunions!'" He strummed his guitar, singing along as Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp began cheering him on. Brooke watched not-so-silently, dabbing at his wet eyes (although he has no eyes) with his handkerchief.

A vein throbbed on Nami's forehead as she watched them. She sighed, sitting down in her seat. "And yet, despite all of this, we still get new crewmembers. I hope Lin knows what she's getting herself into…" Robin smiled next to her.

"I'm sure she'll be fine."

* * *

"Welcome, Fuchsia Village!" Shanks yelled from the table on which he was standing. The entire village was there, crowding around a giant bowl behind Shanks near the harbor. The sun was just setting and Lin couldn't help but feel like she was at a concert. Asuka looked up and tugged Lin's sleeve.

"What's he going to do, Sky-nee-san?" Lin shrugged as Pika yawned from atop Lin's hat. Shanks continued.

"Tonight, a kenpai to Monkey D. Luffy! The man you all know who changed the world! A kenpai with the greatest sake in the world, brought from my own hometown!" He motioned to someone near the harbor, and his crew came from his ship, each carrying a gigantic jug of sake. Each member poured their jug into the colossal bowl. Shanks turned to dip his own glass in the pool of sake. The sun set and finally cast the village into darkness as Shanks raised his glass.

"To Monkey D. Luffy, Pirate King! And to the new era! Kenpai!"

"**KENPAI!**"

As the village roared in approval, fireworks were set off from Shanks' ship. If Lin squinted, she could just see Yasopp and Ben Beckmann setting off the explosives from the deck. Each one went off in an amazing display of colors, and the part of the crowd that wasn't making a mad scramble for the sake was oohing and aahing at them. Asuka stared in awe at Shanks, who was laughing whole-heartedly with his crew.

"… Wow…" Lin thought that summed up just about everything.

* * *

There was a bit of silence among the crew after Shanks' semi-speech. Nami smiled as Luffy began laughing along with his idol.

"I'll give that guy one thing, he sure knows how to kenpai… Eh? Where's Zoro?" The crew gave a start as they discovered the absence of their swordsman. Usopp shrugged.

"Well, we'll meet up with him later. I don't think he'd get lost even now; there's sake." The crew nodded in agreement. Luffy began looking around until he spotted something. He began waving.

"Oiii~! Lin! Over heeere~!" Lin gave a start as she noticed Luffy waving to her. Pika leaned down and poked her face.

"Pika pika."

"Yeah, I see them. Asuka, is that your dad over there?" Asuka turned to see the man arguing with the mayor. Asuka immediately ran after him as Lin carefully steered towards the crew. Sanji swooned when she reached them.

"Lin-chaaan~! You look absolutely lovely tonight~!" He began noodling around Lin, making her eye twitch slightly.

"… Right…" Pika eyed Sanji.

"Pika pikachu."

"Pika says that you're really weird, Sanji." Chopper said. Sanji immediately halted and turned to glare at Pika.

"Who asked you? Shitty rat!" Pika leaped off Lin's head in a flash.

"PIKACHUUU!" Instead of frying Sanji, Pika instead latched onto Sanji's arm with an audible chomp. Sanji howled as he shook his arm.

"Why you- Get off me!"

"Mmph mmmm!" Lin began panicking.

"P-Pika! Get off him this instant!" Pika released Sanji immediately; sent flying by Sanji's flailing into Franky's face. Pika automatically latched on and Franky began flailing from the lack of air.

"Dgarmmph! Gerdoff! GERDOFF!" Pika was too stunned from flying into a metal nose to comply. Franky finally reached up and pulled Pika off, gasping in relief. He handed the still-dazed Pika to Lin, who put her on top of her hat again, patting her. Franky glared at Sanji.

"Oi cook-bro! What's the meaning of flinging the little guy on me, eh?" Sanji glared back.

"Obviously I was trying to get it off of _me_ you shitty robot! It's not my fault you were in the way!" Franky snorted leaning forward until he was nose to metal nose with Sanji.

"Oh yeah, bro, you were doing a _super_ job of getting him off on your own! You stupid-" Nami came up and punched them both in the head. She looked at them disdainfully as they collapsed on the ground. "Idiots."

Robin looked carefully at Lin, who was watching silently. Lin noticed Robin's look and shrugged.

"I have officially given up all hope of sanity." Nami nodded in approval.

"A good thing to do when on this crew; take my word for it." Luffy began laughing as Brooke walked up to Lin, politely nodding his head at her.

"Ah, Lin-san. Congratulations on joining the crew. As the first rule of order, may I please examine your pant-" Sanji slammed a foot on Brooke's head.

"Don't even think about asking her that you shitty skeleton!" Brooke collapsed. Luffy laughed even harder as another voice joined the mayhem.

"Ahoy, Anchor!" Shanks strode up to the group, noting with amusement the collapsed skeleton. Luffy grinned.

"Hey Shanks! Did you finally lose Gramps?" Shanks shrugged.

"One of those marines that follow him around told him he had a call on his ship. He left just before I came over here." Shanks raised an eyebrow at Lin.

"Who's this? Your new crewmember?" Everyone nodded. Shanks then seemed to notice Pika. "… Odd creature. Never seen anything like it. What is it?" Lin smiled slightly.

"This is Pika." Pika nodded.

"Pika pikachu." Shanks raised an eyebrow.

"Is that all it knows how to say?" Lin shrugged.

"Pretty much." Pika leaned down and poked her face.

"Pikapi."

"And Pika is _not_ a rat. Or a mouse. She's a pikachu." Chopper looked incredulously at Lin.

"You can understand her, too?" Lin shook her head, disturbing Pika slightly.

"Not really, I just guessed." Shanks grinned at Luffy.

"Well, you certainly have interesting nakama, eh Luffy?" Luffy chuckled, but then quickly quieted down with a more serious look on his face. The crew slowly quieted down as Luffy took off his hat slowly. Shanks blankly watched as Luffy handed his hat to him. Everyone watched silently.

"A deal's a deal. I told you that I would become the Pirate King, and I did." Shanks nodded slowly.

"And I told you to bring me back that hat when you became a great pirate, didn't I?" Shanks took the hat and looked at it closely. "… Been a bit rough with it, boy? I told you it needed to be in good condition." Luffy shrugged.

"People kept taking it. But Nami fixed it up every time! Didn't you Nami?" Shanks turned his gaze to Nami, who nodded. Shanks grinned.

"Well, you certainly did a good job! It actually looks better than it was when I would wear it! I used to have Ben fix it, and he was a terrible seamstress! Hahaha~!" Shanks laughed while Lin was immediately entertained at the thought of Ben Beckmann _sewing_. Shanks then grinned a very Luffy-like grin and shoved the hat back on Luffy's head. "Well, you need the hat still, don't you? You're Strawhat Luffy, and that's a great honor for this hat to bear!" Lin could have expected a number of classic, inspiring lines from Shanks, but he simply turned and walked away, waving carelessly.

"Plus I finally got rid of my hat-hair! Don't need that problem again!"

* * *

Zoro watched from his place by the bowl of sake as the red-haired pirate walked away. He smirked, knowing that something great had just transpired. Normally, he wasn't one to care about that kind of thing. But he knew that his captain surely appreciated it.

He took another drink of the sake, nodding to himself. It was good sake; Shanks hadn't been kidding when he had stated it was the best. In fact, it was a little too good. Zoro liked good, hard alcohol. Sake like this was to be had sparingly and reverently; not at all like his usual drinking style.

He watched as the crew seemed to automatically split into individuals as they approached the bowl, the new girl a little slower than usual. That odd creature was there again, sitting… On her head? Weird. The girl walked up near Zoro and stared at the bowl for a while, seemingly debating something. Zoro smirked.

"Afraid of a little sake?" The girl (Lin, wasn't it?) jumped and looked around wildly, nearly throwing the mouse off of her head. She stared at Zoro until his question seemed to sink in and she smiled sheepishly.

"I've never had the best tolerance for alcohol, but it seems almost rude to not try any." Zoro snorted.

"When's the last time you had any alcohol?" Lin shrugged.

"I once went to a friend's party and had a cup or two of punch. Next thing I know it's morning and half the school has a video of me singing the Macarena while attempting to can-can on someone's car." Zoro looked at her oddly and she simply stated "Don't ask."

She turned back to the bowl thoughtfully. "But I've never had sake before… I'm kind of curious. Is it good?" She asked, turning back to Zoro. Zoro shrugged.

"I'm not exactly one to appreciate the taste or quality or any of that crap. I just like getting some alcohol into my system." Lin nodded to herself.

"Right then; wrong person to ask. I don't think I'll risk it; who knows what I'd do." Pika looked at Zoro curiously as he finished the last of his cup. He stared right back, and Pika looked away quickly then turned to sniff the bowl. Lin looked up at Pika.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Pika. Who knows what that'll do to you?" Pika leaned down and gave Lin a watery gaze.

"Chu…?" Lin winced.

"Look, tell you what. I'll get you your very own bottle of ketchup at the next town, okay? I hear pikachus love them****!" Pika consented after only a moment or two of thought. Zoro looked at the two oddly but decided not to question it. Lin looked at him and decided to ask him something that had been on her mind for a bit.

"… How could you tell?" Zoro looked at her curiously. Lin elaborated "How could you tell all that stuff? About me knowing how to fight?" Zoro shrugged.

"I could just tell that you knew how to fight. I could also tell that you didn't really like to, simple as that." Lin rolled her eyes.

"Well then, it's as simple as that then. You guys really are insane." Zoro smirked.

"Damn straight. But I think joining us anyway makes you insane too." Lin smiled.

"I suppose so." A shout distracted her and she turned to see Shanks' crew gathering together, dragging Brooke along. Brooke pulled out his violin and began playing a familiar tune as the crew began singing.

_Yohohoho, yohohoho_

_Yohohoho, yohohoho_

_Yohohoho, yohohoho_

_Yohohoho, yohohoho_

_Binkusu no sake o, todoke ni yuku yo_

_Umikaze kimakase namimakase_

_Shio no mukou de, yuuhi mo sawagu_

_Sora nya wa wo kaku tori no uta_

_Sayanora minato, tsumugi no sato yo_

_DON to icchou utao, funade no uta_

_Kinpa ginpa mo shibuki ni kaete_

_Oretachya yuku zo, umi no kagiri_

The crowd around them joined in with the singing, laughing all the while.

_Binkusu no sake o, todoke ni yuku yo_

_Warera kaizoku, umi watteku_

_Nami wo makura ni, negura wa fune yo_

_Ho ni hata ni ketateru wa dokuro_

_Arashi ga kita zo, senri no sora ni_

_Nami ga odoru yo, doramu narase_

_Okubyoukaze ni fukakerya saigo_

_Asu no asahi ga nai ja nashi_

Lin could see some of her own crewmembers joining in as the chorus began.

_Yohohoho, yohohoho_

_Yohohoho, yohohoho_

_Yohohoho, yohohoho_

_Yohohoho, yohohoho_

The crowd was quickly silenced as Brooke stepped forward alone.

_Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo_

_Kyou ka asu ka to yoi no yume_

_Te wo furu kage ni, mou aenai yo_

_Nani wo kuyokuyo, asu mo tsukuyo_

The rest of the crowd then joined in at the next verse.

_Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo_

_DON to icchou utao, unaba wo uta_

_Douse dare demo itsuka wa hone yo_

_Hatenashi, atenashi, waraibanashi_

_Yohohoho, yohohoho_

_Yohohoho, yohohoho_

_Yohohoho, yohohoho_

_Yohohoho, yohohoho_

The village partied into the night, laughing and singing and drinking all the while. As the fireworks drew to a close, the after image of a strawhat still hovered in the sky.

* * *

"Garp here; who are you and what the hell do you want?" Garp sat in his office on his ship, the microphone of his den den mushi in his hand. He had been more than unhappy when Coby had interrupted his chase to say that he had a call, but he had answered it anyway. Why? We may never know. His snail scowled at him.

"Is that any way to talk to your superiors, Garp? I've been ringing you for the past day; where the hell are your men?" Garp laughed.

"Bwahahaha~! I put them all in the lifeboats and told them to get lost! I'm visiting my village, you know!" Sengoku groaned from the other end of the receiver. He attempted to rub away the oncoming migraine as Garp continued.

"And I've got that tea you wanted! Plus they're having a sale on those little cookies that you like-"

"That's not why I'm calling Garp!" Garp silenced himself at the Fleet Admiral's tone. "I'm calling to ask if there have been any… monsters around the town. Anything at all?" Garp scratched his head thoughtfully; the snail on the other side of the call gaining the most comically confused expression. Garp shrugged.

"Nah, just the same as usual. Nothing weird around here; why do you ask?" There was an odd silence.

"…No reason. Go back to your shenanigans, Garp."

"Gotcha! I've got one more stop in East Blue then I'll head back to headquarters. I think. You never know! Guahahaha!" The other line clicked off before Garp could continue.

Sengoku scowled at the receiver as he slammed down the microphone. He turned to the doorway of his office, where a man was watching silently. The man raised an eyebrow.

"Well?" Sengoku glared at him.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. I thought you said that a creature would appear and take out the Mugiwaras!" The man glared back.

"I told you that it was entirely random! There are a number of-"

"Yes, yes, there are a number of worlds and a portal would appear in a random one and suck in the first thing it saw; I know! You convinced me to give you free reign of studying the Mist with _my_ marines by the slight chance that you could find something to help with this pirate problem!" The man scowled, then smirked.

"I've had a recent breakthrough; a little rat decided to investigate our operations, and he seems to hold the key to traveling to specific locations." Sengoku stared incredulously, before a smirk flitted across his features.

"Well then, I have a little project for you…"

* * *

Lin shouldered her backpack as she looked around the living room. Pika was sitting on her head, looking with her as the sun rose through the window. Pika sniffled sadly.

"Pika…"

"Yeah, I'll miss them too." She walked out the front door, where Yamada and Asuka were standing and waiting for her. Asuka sniffled.

"You're really leaving us, Sky-nee-san?" Lin dropped and hugged the girl tightly.

"I'm sorry Asuka. I'll miss you guys though." She looked up at Yamada. "Thank you, Mr. Ookami. Thanks for everything." Yamada smiled at her.

"Hey now, it was a pleasure having you. You've really been great to have around." Lin smiled slightly.

"Crazy alien stuff and all?"

"Even the crazy alien stuff." Yamada nodded at Asuka, who gave a small start and pulled something out of her pocket, handing it to Lin.

"I made this for Pika-chan." Lin set Pika down on the floor as she unfolded the gift. It was a small, red bandanna with a white diamond pattern on the tips. Lin carefully tied it around Pika's neck, and Pika gave Asuka a hug, sniffing slightly.

"Pika…" Lin smiled.

"She loves it; thank you Asuka." Asuka nodded. Yamada coughed slightly.

"I don't have anything to give you but some advice. Live every day to the fullest, and don't be afraid to take chances." Lin nodded slowly, smiling.

"That's probably the best thing you can give me, Mr. Ookami. Thank you." Yamada rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. They began walking to the harbor, where Nami, Robin, and Zoro were waiting for Lin. Nami looked up as Lin approached, stepping over the occasional passed out villager.

"Hey there. We sent everyone else to pick up the boat earlier, so they should arrive any minute now. Got everything?" Lin nodded. Asuka clung to Lin, looking at Nami with watery eyes. Nami winced, turning away quickly.

"I… feel like I'm stealing from that little girl…" She muttered to herself. Robin chuckled slightly as Asuka buried her head in Lin's pants.

"She certainly seems to think so, Navigator-san." Nami seemed to sink into a little cloud of gloom.

"That isn't helping, Robin…" Zoro raised an eyebrow at Pika's new accessory. Asuka immediately perked up.

"I made a bandanna for Pika-chan! Because bandannas are cool!" Zoro glanced at his own bandanna around his arm with satisfaction as Lin chuckled.

"Yeah, it suits Pika, doesn't it?" Zoro hmphed.

"Good taste." A shout distracted the group.

"OIIII~! MINA, OVER HERE~!" They turned to see Luffy jumping on the figurehead of the Thousand Sunny as Franky steered it into the harbor. Lin stared at the ship; it was much more impressive in person.

"That… is a sweet ride." From the steering wheel Franky seemed to hear her, and he posed his SUPER pose. Luffy jumped onto the harbor as soon as the ship docked. He waved to Lin.

"Hey Lin! Hey mystery mouse! Ready to go?" Pika's eyes narrowed and began to lunge until Lin grabbed her by her bandanna. Pika glared from her dangling position as Lin raised an eyebrow.

"Handy." Luffy laughed.

"Hey, cool bandanna!" Asuka beamed with pride as Chopper got off the ship. Asuka smiled widely as he came to them, running forward and hugging him tightly.

"Doctor Chopper!" Chopper gave a start then hugged her back, despite his bluish tint. Asuka released him after a bit then looked at him sadly. "Will I ever see you guys again…?" Chopper nodded eagerly.

"Of course! We'll come back to visit someday, I promise! Right, Luffy?" Luffy grinned.

"Of course! But for now, we have some more places to visit; more adventures to have!" Asuka wiped her face on her sleeve, nodding. Chopper gave her another hug.

"You're going to be a great doctor, Asuka! I know it!" Asuka beamed. Lin smiled at the scene as Sanji practically danced off the ship.

"Nami-swan~! Robin-chwan~! Lin-chwan~!" Lin stared as he began his love routine. She turned to Nami.

"Does he do that often?" Nami nodded, sighing at the thought.

"Always." Lin watched Sanji nearly crash into Zoro in his love-struck state and cause another fight as Shanks walked up from his ship. He smiled at Luffy.

"So, you leaving Anchor?" Luffy nodded. Shanks turned and looked at the ship docked next to his own. "Amazing ship. I haven't seen a ship like that since my trainee days on the Oro Jackson!" Yamada seemed to have a start as he stared at Shanks, who turned back to Luffy.

"The World Government's gone in a state of panic over your success, Luffy. I want you to remember what happens to even the 'best' of people when desperate. They've been all hush-hush on some project lately…" Luffy grinned.

"We'll be fine! We'll definitely be strong enough to take on whatever they throw at us!" Shanks laughed whole-heartedly.

"I'm glad you have that confidence, boy! Makes me proud as hell!" He turned to walk back to his ship, then paused. "Still… Be careful. There hasn't been a time like this since Roger's time. We'll be making a few stops around East Blue before heading back to the Grand Line; maybe we'll see you before then. But first we'll hang around Fuchsia for a spell." He waved as he walked back to his ship, Luffy watching silently. Yamada and Lin exchanged a glance as Nami watched him walk away worriedly.

"Secret project, huh…?" Luffy grinned at Nami.

"We'll be fine! We always are!" Nami only sighed at his groundless confidence.

"Well, shall we leave?" Lin turned to look back at Yamada and Asuka. Asuka hugged her one last time before releasing her.

"Bye, Sky-nee-san. I'll be a great doctor someday, so you can fall on anyone whenever you want!" Lin sweat dropped.

"Thank you…?" Yamada awkwardly coughed.

"… Don't forget what I said." Lin hugged him, smiling.

"I won't. Thank you again."

Luffy waved from his seat on the figurehead at Makino and Shanks. Lin and Pika waved at Yamada and Asuka as Zoro raised the anchor. Nami shouted out orders to Sanji, Brooke, and Franky as they scrambled around the deck. The small group stood on the edge of the harbor, the ship sailing into the horizon, and Asuka tightly clutched the calculator in her hands with a promise to herself.

* * *

... Yeah, I don't like this chapter very much. I don't know about you guys, but this was definitely rushed. Oh well.

So, I'm finally done with this arc! Does it seem like I was eager to move on? Yes? Well, just in case: I WAS SUPER EAGER TO MOVE ON. WOOT! xDDD There's likely going to be a bit of a break between now and the next town as I establish the whole Lin's position and fighting style and such. I already have that all planned out, thanks to SilverStar94. DID I MENTION THANK YOU?

Kung Fu isn't exactly a proper fighting style for Lin in this world, as it mainly involves (at least the way I was taught, this may not apply to other versions) grotesquely ripping your opponents apart using arm bars and jabbing central nerves then running away while they collapse(but that's just _my_ favorite part). :| Plus it's more one on one fighting, so she needs something else. There's a reason that she has Kung Fu in the first place, but I'll expose it in the next chapter. Until then… You can guess if you want.

Oh lordy, this story has _plot_? And Lin _wasn't _chosen by some sort of prophecy? **IT WAS RANDOM? **Have you ever heard anything so preposterous? No? Oh... you have? Hmph, jerks. :DDD What is this plot? Who was that man? What plans does Sengoku have in the name of justice? The suspense is killing you! … It isn't? Oh. Well, meanies.

*Yes, Pika has her official perch. On Lin's head. Or, to be more specific, her hat. How? If the Pokémon show can fit a male pikachu on a ten-year-old's shoulder then I can fit a female pikachu (Pika is actually a bit smaller than a regular male pikachu) on Lin's head. Why? According to Oda, not even he knows why Luffy loves sitting on the heads of ships. And I don't know why Pika likes sitting on the heads of people. But as Oda said, 'as long as (s)he's happy, I guess it's okay.' … Or something like that. :D

** This… is my failed attempt at crack, sort of. It works as crack. **BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT THERE IS NO ROMANCE IN THIS STORY. **Subtle undertones? Maybe. Awkward moments? I can't do those without feeling embarassed, so most likely no.

*** I would like to thank each and every one of those who contributed a bit of information about Zoro's hometown. I don't have the time to name you all, but there were no bad answers (thank goodness)! There, apparently, isn't a set island for where Shimotsuki Village is, though. So, I set it a few days inland of Shell Town. Because you know you all wanted Zoro to meet up with Rika again and have his little 'weakness' exposed to the entire crew. :D I happen to think that having a soft spot for small children and animals isn't a weakness and is the most luffable thing ever, but Zoro may not think so. Go figure. Plus, I wanted to fit Coby's visit to Rika in there (she was so upset when he left that he _has_ to visit her, silly!), and I couldn't think of any other logical reason for the crew to head to Shell Town. It works, yo. It works.

**** Is this true? I haven't seen the anime in years, but apparently there's some sort of thing going on between Ash's pikachu and a bottle of ketchup. :P In a way, it makes sense. If pikachus love fruit, then a tomato (which _is_ a fruit) mixed with vinegar and god-knows-what-else would make like some sort of alcohol to them. The thought amuses me, so I think I'll incorporate that into this story; canon or not. And it most likely isn't, but I still love the idea of Pika getting drunk on a bottle of ketchup. x333

Now you know the crew's plans… But even the best-laid plans come with unexpected surprises. And this wouldn't be too exciting of a story if all that it involved was the crew's reunions. Rest assured, the other towns will most definitely have their own adventures with some bad guys, old and new. Plus a couple of surprising adventures in between. They're going to be _big_ surprises~! xDDD Except of course to SilverStar94, who helped me iron out the details in them and fixed any and all plot holes in my original planning. Thank you again! ...But I'm only using two of the ideas.

Review and make me happy! Or just tell me off. :D


	10. Converting to Madness

Ohgodohgodohgod. I _missed_ an update… *tips over* I swear it wasn't my fault! I had the entire chapter typed out, and I went to my dad to ask for some internet time yesterday! (Yeah, I'm grounded from the computer's internet and I have to _ask_ for time.) But he wouldn't give me any! Probably with good reason though… He was kinda pissed and confused about how I could spend the whole week on Microsoft Word and not get my report done. At all. I was all eh heh… Oo;;

But lookit! **TEN THOUSAND WORDS! ARE YOU AS **_**EXCITED**_ **AS ME OVER THIS?** 10,000 words is where I draw the line, yo. Now if only there weren't 3,000 words in the Author's Note… I'll work on that. I mean I need 10,000 words in the _story_ itself. AN shouldn't count.

Happy Easter! If you don't celebrate Easter, happy April! Thus begins the Shimotsuki Arc! (because I can't find a name for the island Shell Town is on for the life of me) :D I guarantee there will be a bit more action in this actually fairly short arc, including the prelude to a very special (at least to me) arc, which actually has one of my favorite non-Strawhat characters by Oda-sensei! And he's someone that I haven't seen on this site. Ever. So I'm making a whole arc dedicated to him~! He may not be important, he may be someone not to be taken to such a degree, you guys may think me stupid for doing so, but he's coming anyway! And the next arc will be longer, and much more exciting. Technically, this arc is so short in comparison and so related it could be considered part of the next arc, but then I wouldn't tell you the name, because that would ruin the surprise!

So apparently the last chapter wasn't too rushed, despite every fiber of my being screaming at me that it was very much so. I trust you guys, you know. If not letting me know about me being rushed is some kind of April Fools joke, I guarantee it isn't funny.

But I _do_ need you guys to let me know about something I'm doing wrong! Anything at all! I want to do the best I can and improve with this story, so don't hold anything back! If I'm not giving one of the characters enough screen time, let me know! If one of the characters seems OOC, let me know! If Lin is developing any Mary Sue like qualities, **for the love of cheese, PLEASE let me know! **It all really depends on feedback from you guys! I realize that everyone seems to have their own opinion of what is or isn't a Mary Sue, but I'd like to know if Lin draws any red flags from you!

I just barely escaped with my story intact in this week's weekly manga! Good ol' Shanks, he made sure that he didn't contradict my story at all! And the whole Ace thing… He made it less hurtful. So it's kind of official that Ace won't be alive in this story, and I'm brought out of my denial at last. Ace is dead! I miss him so! TT And I have no comment on the end of the Whitebeard War. At all. Except for that.

I can't get the song 'Cod Liver Oil' out of my head. Plus when I was looking at CDs I listened to 'Sonny's Dream' and I was all O3o;; Usopp? You had a song written about you? And on the same CD was the song 'Maid on the Shore'… So Nami. And 'Harbor Le Cou'. I lol'd at that, for I immediately thought of Sanji. :D When I got to the songs 'When I Am King' and 'Drunken Sailor' I just kind of pulled a blank face and bought the whole CD. Creepy things happen to me.

This week's semi-advertisement semi-credit corner features 'Fate in Piracy' by ImmortalRoseOfTheThorns, 'From the Inside' by IzumiTheMoogle, and 'Endgame: All Blue in Seven Courses' by Penniless1. Why three this week? Because I read three 'inspire me to write' fics this week, of course! :D

Thanks to TwilightFever-FutureCullen for showing me 'Fate in Piracy', the story of Kisaki Soul and her own adventures as a Mugiwara. I do love these stories, in case you haven't noticed, and then you couple that with the fact that Soul is actually one of those few OCs that knows absolutely nothing about One Piece. Nada. Zip. Zilch. And without a devil fruit! Have you ever heard of anything so- *pauses, then turns and shoves Horizons in closet* -so death defying, so daring, so reckless! But ImmortalRoseOfTheThorns pulls it off so well, and with the adorable pairing of ZoroxOC, this story is a great read! Because I'm just a fan of that, even if I could never hope to accomplish it. :C

'From the Inside' is amazing. Absolutely amazing. The story of Zoro who, in one of his usual bouts of 'saving the crew', takes a little dart for Luffy. A poisonous dart combined with liquid sea stone. His nakama race against the clock for a cure, each showing just how much they need the grass head in their own way. IzumiTheMoogle balances the perfect amount of angst with that amazing nakamaship that we don't see often enough! I usually get in a bad mood after reading angst stories (heaven knows why I go looking for them regardless) but this story managed to beautifully portray the perfect amount of each category with the crew being In Character and Zoro being… Well, Zoro. That same Zoro who would do anything for his crew, and this story portrays how they would do anything right back. Warmed my heart, I tell you! x333

'Endgame: All Blue in Seven Courses'. Oh, where do I begin? This is a post-Raftel novel that is pure WIN. The story starts about five years after Luffy becomes the Pirate King, as we enter his wedding to Nami on Sanji's restaurant. The story goes right into the heart of a fantastic plot and conspiracy that slowly unravels as the previous villains return for revenge and allies old and new gather. Bringing together the unlikeliest characters in the unlikeliest ways, this story is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat as it goes to extraordinary lengths with the plot. I can't describe it properly, so you have to see for yourself! Featuring LuffyxNami, UsoppxKaya, FrankyxRobin, ZoroxTashigi, and SanjixBonney (as in JEWELRY Bonney, the Supernova!) Chopper and Brooke are just two good-natured bachelors. :D

On a serious note, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu brought up a good point about the length of this story. I'm personally a fan of a good, long story. But the main issue is how long I'll go on updating this story, as those who looked back would see that any other multi-chapter story I've started in the past I never finished. I have plenty of excuses; such as how I started the two in a last ditch attempt to keep my interest in Danny Phantom alive, even when his show ended (plus I loved the idea of Kim and Danny meeting, but then when they actually met I was all 'now what'). But it is a worry of mine about how long I'll be working on this. Obviously, my chapters are getting longer and longer with each update. So with the number of overall chapters slowly decreasing, I _should _finish this within the year. Should. With the occasional double update for special occasions (based on me, as I realize I missed Usopp's birthday but still love him :D ). Personally, I think I've been going on with this story for so long already because of a key thing my previous stories never had.

_PLANNING_.***lightning flashes, thunder crashes***

Yeah, that's right. I never planned for how I was going to end Fenton Files. I only came up with the bad guy somewhere in the middle of chapter six! And even then I kept bouncing back and forth. But this story… I've got the whole main overtones worked out. I've got a profile for my main villain, and a whole other group I'm working with. I just keep getting stuck on the little details in between, but SilverStar94 helps me with those and it works out. :D Did I mention thank you? In like, every chapter? Cuz I mean it!

Admittedly, I only planned for the East Blue and the next part, which is why I'm ending Horizons at the beginning of the Grand Line and just making a sequel to continue.

So basically, I'll make a bunch of sagas and a new story for each one. The next saga is going to be fun~! I'd tell you what it's called now, but I'd be giving away too much by that alone! I'll put in some foreshadowing somewhere in the middle of Horizons, and I've got some really weird ideas that I have yet to see on this site and I think will definitely work out! If I plan carefully, that is. BUT I'M SO EXCITED TO TYPE THEM. xDDD

But the point is I'm focusing on each chapter one week at a time. Thinking about the future of this story depresses me, oddly enough, so one chapter at a time, and hopefully it will work out. :D Plus my deranged teenage mind takes writing this story as a ninja challenge, both the writing and the attempts to hide it even when grounded, and I do so love ninjas. Even if using said ninja skillz to write a pirate story. Go figure.

Don't own One Piece. Don't own Pokémon. Don't own Pika… Well, the only things I own are this plot and Lin. And I still question that, because _someone_ else had to think of a post-Raftel self-insert (with the Strawhat crew still adventuring, of course)… Right? **I CAN'T BE THE ONLY ONE!**

A bit of warning, this chapter contains many, many shameless theories and states many things that are most likely inaccurate. Physics, swordplay, pokémon professors, pokéballs, and magnetism are not my forte. If you are offended, I apologize. If you want to correct me… Be my guest. I wouldn't mind knowing how they actually go. My only internet access this week came from my DSi, and maps of the ship are virtually impossible to view properly on those tiny screens. Sorry!

* * *

"**Madness is rare in individuals-but in groups, political parties, nations, and eras it's the rule."**

**~Friedrich Nietzsche**

They had only been out of sight of the island for a few minutes when another ship appeared. A very specific marine ship; Lin recognized the dog figurehead immediately.

As if there wasn't enough evidence of whom it was, Garp himself appeared on the deck, a maniacal grin on his face.

"So, you trying to leave without saying goodbye to your grandfather? Ungrateful brat!" He shouted. Luffy took one look behind him and blinked rapidly, before his face quickly grew bored.

"Oh, it's Gramps." Garp seemed to hear from all the way on his ship, and he began roaring

"DAMN RIGHT IT'S GRAMPS, BOY! I CAME ALL THIS WAY TO VISIT AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO SHOW ANY RESPECT!" Coby and Helmeppo appeared on deck with him and began waving frantically at him as he began rummaging around for something.

"G-Garp-san! Please don't do this!" Lin's jaw dropped as Garp pulled out a gigantic cannonball, which was attached to a chain about as big around as Garp himself. Garp hefted the cannonball onto his shoulder and Lin began twitching.

"B-Big…" Nami gave a start at the sight of it.

"Shit! And he's coming from the west, too! Brooke!" She shouted down to the crew. "We need to turn to the south-by-south-west! And Franky! Get the Coup De Burst ready!" She turned and looked at Lin, who was staring at Garp as he swung around the cannonball like a flail.

"S-So big…" Nami swore, then called back.

"Robin! Grab hold of Lin! And Lin!" Lin twitched her blank gaze to Nami. "Hold on tight to Pika!" Lin dimly registered her snatching Pika, who was in a similar state of awe at Garp, and squeezing her tightly. Franky rushed out of the hold, giving a thumbs up to Nami.

"All right! The Burst should be ready in five…" Garp gave a final swing of the chain.

"Four…" He released the cannonball, and it sailed towards the Thousand Sunny.

"Three…" The cannonball began to blot out the sun from where Lin was standing.

"Two…" Hands sprouted from the wall beside Lin and snatched her, keeping a tight hold.

"What the-?"

"One…" The cannonball was just about to hit the ship…

"**COUP DE BURST!**" The ship flew into the sky as the cannonball landed in the now empty sea with a colossal splash. Lin kept a tight grip on Pika and the arms took a tight hold on her. The ship seemed to almost hover in midair before gravity took hold and they began falling. Lin began screaming; it was a lot like a roller coaster.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" She could just hear the crew laughing behind her as the ship fell into the water with a splash.

Garp's ship was no where in sight when the waves had calmed, and Lin carefully sat on the deck as the arms vanished. She immediately passed out. Pika, who Lin was still clinging to, was unable to breath due to Lin's vice grip and passed out as well. Luffy soon ran up to the back deck, grinning.

"All right! Now that Gramps is gone, we can- Eh? What's wrong?" Robin walked on to the deck as well, smiling slightly. "Nah, Robin? What's wrong with them? Are they sick?" Chopper looked up from the deck at the word.

"Sick? What happened?" He ran up to them in a frenzy. Robin smiled at the little doctor.

"They have simply passed out. Although Pika-chan seems to be slowly suffocating to death." Chopper's jaw dropped.

"EHHH?" Nami looked up at the noise and sighed over the chart she was looking over.

"Sanity will only get you killed on this ship."

* * *

"Yosh! Now that everyone's better, we can start!" Everyone was gathered in the middle of the deck, Luffy in the middle. Pika was fully recovered and resting on Lin's head, who had also recovered (although there was still the question of post-traumatic stress). Lin looked at Luffy curiously.

"Start what?" Luffy stared at her as though she was crazy.

"The kenpai! Are you stupid or something?" Lin slapped her forehead as Nami stepped up to Luffy.

"Now hold on, Luffy! We _just_ had a kenpai! We'll most likely have _more_ kenpais at our own hometowns!" Luffy began whining.

"But we need a kenpai for our new nakama!" A fist slammed him into the deck.

"No! Right now we need to talk about the delay your grandpa has caused! Then we need to acquaint Lin with the ship and routine!" She turned to the crew, who stood silently at the look in her eye. Nami looked at Lin first.

"Right now, we're heading to Shell Town, where we will walk to Shimotsuki Village, which is Zoro's hometown! But because of the fact we had to change course, it will most likely take the entire day instead of only a few hours like we planned." Zoro grumbled.

"Couldn't we head there from another town…?" Robin looked at Zoro curiously.

"Why do you not want to go to Shell Town, Swordsman-san? When were you there last?" Lin knew immediately what they were talking about. She could also guess why Zoro didn't want them to go to Shell Town; but she reminded herself to not let on anything. Zoro looked away from Robin. "I'm just saying it isn't the best idea to head to the same place as Luffy's grandpa when we just got away from him, that's all." Usopp looked at Zoro oddly.

"How do you know that he's heading there?" Luffy answered.

"Because we left Coby in Shell Town when Zoro joined the crew! Coby probably wants to visit the marines that let him join!" Brooke looked at Zoro.

"So that's when you joined the crew… I couldn't find anything about that in the crew's log book, and I was most curious!" Zoro looked distinctly uncomfortable at the attention. Luffy continued.

"Besides, that little kid makes really good onigiri! Zoro liked it so much, he ate it off the ground!" Luffy laughed as the entire crew stared at Zoro, who glowered at Luffy. Lin slapped her forehead, being the only other one who knew what really happened. _'It sounds so wrong when you put it that way… Not nearly as cool as it really was.'_

Sanji smirked at Zoro. "What's the matter, marimo? Were you so poor back then you couldn't get a decent meal?" A vein throbbed in Zoro's forehead, but he only growled at Sanji and walked away stiffly. Sanji eyed him oddly, but then shrugged and left to prepare lunch. Nami sighed as the rest of the crew dispersed to their own activities.

"That could have gone wrong in so many ways. Come on, Lin. Let's take a tour."

* * *

"… And this is the girl's cabin. You can have the hammock over there until we can get Franky to build you your own bed." Lin looked around, amazed at the room. It was obvious that the room was kept clean, and she absentmindedly set down her backpack on the indicated hammock. Nami looked at the backpack curiously.

"I thought that you didn't plan for a trip. What's with the backpack, anyway?" Lin blinked at Nami.

"I was in school." Nami gave her a blank look and Lin remembered Asuka's reaction to the word.

"Where I come from, people go to classes five days a week, nine months a year. You start when you're about five years old and you go to school for twelve years, sometimes more." Nami stared at Lin as though she grown a second head.

"Are you insane? What could you possibly learn over a period of twelve years?" Lin shrugged.

"Math, reading, writing, history, science, to name a few. The backpack is to carry all of my supplies; books and paper and such." Nami shook her head incredulously.

"People must be insane geniuses where you come from…" Lin snorted.

"As if. If there's one thing that people learn their first day at school, it's that you can stare at a lecturing teacher for eight hours a day and not learn a single thing. You can repeat the process for years, and no one will suspect a thing." Nami stared at Lin.

"… Right… But if you have books, you can take them to our library." Lin perked up.

"You guys have a library?" Nami nodded.

"It's the last place I have to show you. Follow me, and bring any books!" Lin walked over to her backpack and looked inside. Yep, lots of books. She just decided to bring the whole backpack. Following Nami to another section of the ship, she suddenly seemed to notice the absence of weight on her head.

"Eh? Where'd Pika go?" Nami looked at Lin oddly.

"You just noticed? I think she went with Chopper somewhere." Lin made a small 'o' with her mouth, then silenced herself as Nami opened another door. She looked inside incredulously.

Books. Everywhere. The room was a giant circle, with a long bench hugging the wall all around. In between each window was a book shelf lined with books. Lin noticed a circular desk in the middle and a ladder leading up. Nami pointed each out.

"This is the library, where the entire crew (except for Luffy) keeps their books. The desk is where I make my maps, and the ladder leads to the bathhouse. I need to go check on our course for a minute, so you can look around here while I'm gone." She walked out the door, leaving Lin to stare incredulously at the room.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Lin jumped and turned to see Robin sitting on the bench, looking for all the world like she had been there the whole time. Lin stared at her.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Lin thought that Robin knew damn well 'what', but kept it to herself as she took off her backpack and set it on the bench nearby. She opened it and suddenly froze upon realizing something.

The One Piece volume from the library was still in there.

"Oh, did you have some books?" Lin whirled to see Robin simply standing a few feet away, regarding her backpack with curiosity. Lin stuttered.

"Y-Yeah. Just… give me a second." Hastily pulling out every other book (and consequently burying the One Piece book under her notebooks) she paused upon pulling out the Batman book she had recently checked out.

"… Oh. Shit."

"What's the matter, Lin-san?" Lin held up the Batman book.

"This is a popular book. How am I supposed to return it to the library now? I bet someone's already called and reserved it… It was a miracle I managed to get it." Lin sighed. "Oh well, at least there's plenty of time for me to read it now." She gathered all of the books into a pile, then paused.

"… Robin?"

"Yes, Lin-san?"

"Where should I put these?" Robin looked them over.

"You may simply leave them there; I wouldn't mind looking at them myself. But who is 'Batman'?" Lin grinned enthusiastically.

"Batman is a superhero. By day, he's the rich and fun Bruce Wayne, Gotham City's White Knight; loved by all of the people. But at night…" Lin took on a creepy grin. "He roams the city and uses his amazing ninja skills and badass cape to take out criminals, dodge the law, and defeat his enemies. No one knows that they're the same people, and no one ever suspects!" Robin regarded the odd look on Lin's face for a minute, then simply stated

"Long-nose-kun may enjoy such stories. You may want to show him that sometime." Nami walked in and saw Lin holding up her Batman book, still having that creepy smile on her face. She sweat dropped.

"Okay…?" Lin shook herself, putting down the book immediately.

"Sorry." Nami simply motioned for Lin to follow her as she led her out onto the deck. Turning, she stated

"So there's another thing that we need to resolve. Fighting." Lin made a face. "I'm guessing Zoro was right, but you need to be even a little helpful in a fight against the marines. What style do you use?" Lin sighed, but Nami was right. She needed to be helpful, even if only a little. But there was a little problem…

"It's a modified version of Kung Fu." Nami nodded.

"How does it work?" Lin sighed.

"Some people call it the lazy man's technique. It incorporates the term 'Minimum effort, maximum effect.' For example," Lin grabbed her own hand. "If someone was to rush me, instead of pushing them back I would instead grab them and use their own weight against them to… Say… Break their arm. Or jab their throat so hard that they'll be unable to breath. Whichever works. The point is to hit them in all the right places so they go down faster and harder." Nami sweat dropped. Lin paused.

"But it really is meant more for one on one. I… haven't learned how to effectively use it against groups… I just got my green belt a few months ago!" Nami nodded firmly, taking Lin's arm.

"Right, come on then. I think you need a weapon."

* * *

Brooke paused in his music and Zoro carefully set down his weights as they both stared incredulously at the three. Zoro spoke up first.

"You want us to _what_ now?" They were all in the Crow's Nest; Nami was standing in front of Lin and Usopp, who seemed to be almost hiding behind Nami. Although Lin was more staring at the weight that was previously in Zoro's hand. How did the ship not sink with that thing? Nami began to explain to Zoro, interrupting Lin's musings of the laws of physics.

"I need you two to teach Lin to use a sword. It doesn't have to be professional; it just needs to be basic." Zoro immediately protested.

"Why us? Why not anyone else?" Nami glared at his resistance.

"Chopper, Luffy, and Robin rely on their unique devil fruits to fight. Franky, Usopp, and I all use specialized weapons to fight! You two are the only ones that use regular weapons! And Sanji..." Lin grumbled to herself.

"Sanji won't teach me anything." Nami sighed.

"Sanji-kun's _chivalrous_, Lin. It's rare, but he really does just care." Zoro cleared his throat. Brooke had officially established that if Zoro went down, he would go down. And he trusted Zoro to argue enough for the both of them, so he picked up his violin and continued his playing.

"Why can't Usopp just make her a weapon too, then?" Usopp interrupted at this point, albeit quivering slightly.

"They already asked me to. But I can only make weapons based on a basic weapon fighting style. And Lin, apparently, was taught a bit of kendo." Lin shrugged as Zoro turned to her.

"When you get to be a green belt, you get to pick a weapon of choice. I chose a sword. I barely learned the basics though…" Nami gazed at Zoro steely.

"And if you two do this, I'll decrease your debt by ten thousand beri." Zoro snorted.

"That's barely even half of a percent, witch." Nami shrugged.

"It's a start. You really should focus on that debt, you know. All the swordsmanship skills in the world and you can't even pay off one measly little debt." Nami smirked at the look on Zoro's face. "Besides, the faster Lin learns, the more opportunities you'll have to pay off more debt. And if she learns from the Greatest Swordsman in the World, she'll pick it up just fine." Zoro sighed in defeat.

"…How long?" Usopp took on a professional tone as Nami left, satisfied her work was done.

"I already have some ideas for weapons, but they all revolve around two-sword style. Can you teach her that?" Zoro gave him a look and he gave an odd little 'eep' noise. "… Please?" Zoro scoffed.

"Fine. I'll need three shinai." Usopp looked at him blankly.

"… What's a shinai?" But at one look from Zoro he was sent scurrying down the ladder after Nami, leaving Lin to stand there awkwardly.

"… Hi?"

* * *

Usopp came up about ten minutes later, carrying a bundle in front of him. He proudly revealed the bundle to be three new looking bamboo swords, two of them shorter than the third, which was about the size of a regular katana. When Zoro questioned the length, Usopp only replied

"The weapon will be shorter than a regular katana, so I figured it's best if she learned with shorter shinai, which" Usopp interjected heatedly, "I had to interrupt Robin to find out what it meant, let alone how to make it. And she was in the middle of some new history book, so there was this creepy vibe around her the whole time!" Usopp shivered.

Zoro simply shrugged, "Thanks, Usopp." then handed the two shorter shinai to Lin and the longer one to Brooke. Usopp watched curiously.

"You aren't going to spar her yourself?" Lin appeared startled.

"Spar?" Zoro ignored her.

"I'd kill her." There was a bit of an awkward silence. Usopp broke it first.

"…Right. I think I'll leave to go work on the new weapon. Good luck Lin!" He was down the ladder and off the deck before she could put in a word. She looked at Zoro nervously.

"Spar?" Zoro gave her a look.

"You will spar Brooke here, and I'll tell you how to improve. It's how I learned."

"By sparring someone you could never hope to compete with and having someone stand off to the side and tell you what you did to nearly get yourself killed?" Zoro shrugged, moving so that he gave Brooke a bit of perimeter.

"Something like that." Lin mentally slapped herself as she played her words over in her head. Brooke gave the shinai a few experimental swings, then gave Zoro a salute.

"I shall do my best, Zoro-san!" Zoro snorted.

"Just keep your speed down." Even so, when Brooke first rushed Lin it seemed to her to be at the speed of lightning.

* * *

Pika was in the kitchen with Chopper and Sanji. Sanji was making lunch and technically not a part of the little discussion that the other two were having, but he was there nonetheless. And it wasn't much of a discussion in his eyes, either. It was more of a 'Chopper asking questions and being satisfied with the weird noises the mouse made'.

"So what's the strongest attack you have?"

"Pika pikachu."

"Whoa, really? That's so cool! Is there a downside?"

"Pikapi."

"… Oh. That's not good. Have you ever tried it?"

"Pi. Pikachu pika, pika."

"Well, that's good. Does she know about it?"

"Pika pika pikachu."

"Really? Then she must, right?" Sanji couldn't take it anymore. He whirled around, pan in hand, and demanded

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Chopper appeared startled.

"W-We were just talking about Pika's strongest attacks…" Sanji looked at Chopper curiously.

"Strongest?" Chopper nodded, eager to appease the chef.

"Pika says it's called a Volt Tackle. But it's life-threatening because she overrides her voltage storage and spreads the energy to the parts of her body that are susceptible to damage by electricity. I was wondering if Lin ever made her do it." Sanji almost kicked the small reindeer for such a question.

"As if Lin-chan could ever ask such a thing of anyone~!" Chopper nodded frantically in agreement.

"I was only curious! Pika said she didn't, and apparently trainers always know about a pikachu's signature attack." Sanji stopped his noodling.

"Trainers?"

"Yeah. Where Pika's from, the one who captures pokémon is a trainer, and they teach pokémon how to fight." Sanji seemed confused.

"So, Lin-chan teaches the little mouse how to fight while the marimo still has to teach Lin-chan?" Chopper and Pika exchanged a glance.

"Zoro's teaching Lin how to fight?" Sanji snorted.

"If you'd pay attention to all of the shitty racket going on, you would have gone to investigate yourself a long time ago. Shitty skeleton not respecting a lady…" He grumbled as he turned back to the stove. When Chopper and Pika tilted their heads to the side, a series of whaps sounded from above. But Sanji wouldn't be able to hear-

**CRASH!**

Oh.

* * *

"Straighten your wrists more and learn to pivot properly. Keep your back straight!" Lin nodded, focusing on Brooke. Brooke looked for all the world like an undead gentleman, not a crease out of place on his suit; like he hadn't been beating the crap out of Lin with the harmless looking stick of bamboo just a minute ago. He bowed to Lin.

"My apologies, Lin-san. But perhaps later you can show me your panties?" Lin gave him a look. Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Less talking, more sparring." Brooke merely bowed again and attacked Lin.

Zoro watched them carefully. Lin was indeed a fighter as he suspected, being both conservative in her movements and perhaps a bit faster than he anticipated (even if it meant nothing to him or Brooke or any real fighter on the Grand Line, he was sure that there were maybe a few enemies in East Blue that may appreciate her speed) and she had definitely learned the basics of using momentum to deal effective strikes. But she was not ambidextrous at all, as is usually the case when learning two sword style.

While Lin seemed to understand that Brooke always attacked from the same spot and could pull up her left shinai, she apparently wasn't left-handed and her defense would often fail in the face of Brooke's strength. She didn't seem to have much arm strength at all. If she attempted to block with her right shinai, her defense would go a bit better, but her uncoordinated left counter attack would be inadequate and weak, and Brooke would easily block it.

While Brooke would easily block any strike Lin could come up with, she should at least be able to properly counter. And both attacking and defending was made nearly impossible with her left hand, mostly because of the fact that she wouldn't properly hold the shinai with her left hand. She had just backed away with another welt on her arm when she heard someone coming up the ladder. She turned to the hatch as it opened and a little face popped up.

"Pika?" Lin blinked.

"Pika? What are you doing here?" Pika gave a little leap and was inside, looking around curiously. A pink top hat soon followed, and Chopper clambered into the nest after her. He straightened up as he looked at Lin.

"Eh? Lin? What happened?" Lin was covered in welts all over her arms (and a few on her head), having taken off her jacket a while ago. Lin shrugged, wincing only slightly as it disturbed her injuries.

"Just a bit of sparring. What's up?" Chopper looked ready to protest that Lin looked a bit like a pink balloon, but sighed, knowing that Zoro knew what he was doing. He instead stated

"We were coming up to see what the noise was." Lin winced and looked to where she had tripped over Brooke himself when she had forgotten herself and attempted to maneuver too close. She had crashed into a (what Zoro had declared) 'small' set of weights which looked and sounded as though they would go right through the floor when they made contact. Pika looked at the weights curiously as Chopper continued.

"Plus I was kind of curious about something." Lin looked over at Zoro, who nodded at Brooke. Brooke set down the shinai and took up his tea as Lin set down her own shinai.

"What's up?" Chopper didn't seem sure about how to ask.

"Well… I was wondering… You're a pokémon trainer, right?" Lin shrugged.

"More or less. In theory, I suppose. Why?" Chopper fiddled with his hooves.

"So what does that mean for Pika? We were talking about Pika's attacks…" Lin sat next to Chopper.

"You're asking how a pokémon trainer does things?" Chopper nodded. "It's kind of complicated. A lot of the rules are kind of sketchy and really only apply to battling other trainers or pokémon. They wouldn't work here. But the concept is fairly simple." She indicated Pika, who was looking around at the weights with awe.

"In a rule-following battle, it's actually more like a game. The trainer tells the pokémon which moves to use and how to use them. It's usually one on one, but the trainer never really does anything but tell them what to do. And, of course, tell them when to quit and switch out pokémon. Usually a trainer has up to six pokémon with them, and they store all of the others somewhere else." Chopper looked at Lin incredulously.

"Store? They don't even use them?" Lin nodded.

"Yeah. That's why the pokéballs are so handy. They convert the pokémon into a coma-like state. It's as if no time has passed at all when you take them out. Some pokémon don't like it, though. So there are a few trainers that like to keep them out all the time and only use the pokéballs for emergencies." Chopper nodded eagerly.

"Like you?" Lin smiled.

"Yeah, like me. I'm not sure myself if Pika minds the pokéball, but she's fun to have around." Chopper nodded, but then looked down.

"I'm… not sure if I'd like that place… But what about the attacks? A pikachu's attacks?" Lin hmmed to herself.

"Pikachus are popular among trainers, but they're also fairly rare. They actually have a signature move called Volt Tackle. It's extremely powerful and can easily win a fight." Chopper looked at Lin, startled. "But it's life-threatening, and not many pikachus live through it. It's a final attack, because even if they do live, it's completely draining. I hope Pika never has to use it." Lin looked out the window thoughtfully as Chopper sighed in relief. Lin looked at Chopper knowingly.

"Pika told you about that, didn't she?" Chopper nodded sheepishly. "Don't worry. I would _never_ ask Pika to do something like that." Lin watched Pika attempt to balance on the weights, thoroughly enjoying herself. Chopper smiled in satisfaction as Zoro walked up to them. He turned to Chopper.

"Oi, Chopper. You got any bandages?" Chopper nodded in confusion; Zoro would never ask for bandages if he was hurt, and no one else seemed too injured. "Let me have some."

Lin looked at Zoro in confusion as Chopper handed him a roll of bandages from his little backpack. Chopper seemed just as lost as she was. "You know how to tie them, right? What do you need them for?" Zoro turned to Lin, nodding at the shinai on the ground. Lin picked them up as Zoro began unrolling the roll.

"Lin has issues with keeping a good, proper hold on her shinai. That would be a problem in battle, and it's a problem in sparring." Before Lin could blink, Zoro had completely tied her hands to the handles of her shinai, almost cutting off her circulation.

"Eh?" Lin tried to wiggle her hands, but found that even her wrists could only pivot from side to side, instead of up or down. Jeez, he tied a good knot. Zoro walked back to his observatory spot and nodded to Brooke, who gently set down his tea and picked up his own shinai.

"Ready, Lin-san?" Lin attempted a few swings with the binding and nodded, then suddenly giggled as something occurred to her.

"Yes… Onigiri-sensei." Lin guffawed and clutched her stomach rather awkwardly as the group looked at her oddly. She waved a shinai at them. "It's a reference you wouldn't get. Okay, I'm ready." There were still a few blank looks, but otherwise Brooke attacked as usual.

This time, when Lin blocked Brooke's first strike with her left hand, she wasn't nearly as pushed back as before. Taking the chance, she darted in with a swing from her right, noting how it was easier to focus on her speed and form. As she continued to attack and defend, Zoro noted her improvements with a nod.

Chopper watched as Brooke shortly broke through her defenses and gave her a sharp rap on the head. Lin stumbled back, dazed as Zoro spoke.

"Better?" Lin looked at him, smiling a bit.

"Better." Zoro nodded in approval.

"Continue."

"Yohohoho~! En guard, Lin-san!"

"Eep!"

* * *

"NAMI-SWAN~! ROBIN-CHWAN~! LIN-CHWAN~! LUNCH FROM THE VERY DEPTHS OF MY LOOOVE~!" Sanji noodled as he leaned out the galley door. His face took on a semi-annoyed look. "Oi, shitheads! Come and get lunch!"

Luffy and Usopp were the first through the door, and were about to pounce on the table filled with food when a foot slammed them into the wall.

"Ladies first, idiots!" Nami and Robin led Lin to the galley, Pika on Lin's hat again as they sat together on the table. Pika jumped down and sat next to Lin, drooling slightly as she looked over the food on the table.

"Pikachu…" Lin stared at the food, which strongly resembled a buffet. Nami nudged her slightly.

"You may want to fill your plate before Luffy recovers; anything not on it is free game." Lin nodded and began filling her plate with food. As the rest of the crew sat down to eat, Luffy and Usopp recovered and immediately joined them.

Meal time was exactly as Lin had thought it would be, with Luffy snatching off of everyone but the girl's plates, arguments and yelling (and a hint of Tabasco Boshi) everywhere, and Lin enjoyed every minute of it. After the crew had generally calmed down, there were more actual discussions going around as Robin turned to Lin.

"Ah, Lin-san. I was curious about one of the books you had brought in." Lin's fork froze in front of her face, thoughts of the One Piece book still floating around even as she turned to Robin.

"Wh-Which one?" Robin noted her behavior curiously, but continued.

"There was a brown volume with interesting information in it, and I remembered what you had said about your experience at the library." Lin racked her brains to remember as she sighed in relief inwardly; at the library there was…

"Oh! That old lady's book!" Lin suddenly remembered the book that she had first seen lying on top of her backpack when she first woke up in Asuka's room. It was a brown volume, wasn't it? Robin continued.

"Would you see it with me after lunch?" Lin nodded.

"Sure." They had finished up lunch and Lin was following Robin to the library when Usopp came up.

"Oi, Lin! Got a minute?" He noticed Robin then, and blinked.

"Ah, you guys are doing something. When you're done, come see me in my workshop, okay?" Lin nodded, and he turned and walked below deck. Lin followed Robin to the library, where her backpack was still sitting on the bench. Lin noted with relief that it seemed untouched as Robin picked up a book lying nearby, handing it to Lin.

Lin opened the book and stared incredulously at the text on the front page. "'Rough Draft of a Pokédex, Fourth Edition' by Professor Rowan?" Flipping the page, she gaped in amazement at the content.

The main section was a handwritten pokédex. There were little notes scribbled on the side, mainly ones about different features that were to be put into the electronic version. And it had information on every pokémon that Lin knew (even if the sections on the legendaries in the very back were a bit incomplete) with a complete list of moves in tiny print under what seemed to be a scrapbook of pictures, some including a shiny form of the pokémon and a male and female version.

As she flipped through the pages a bit more, she noticed a small stack of papers poking out from one of the pages. Turning to the section, she was greeted with the title 'Palkia' in bold letters at the top, a picture of a carving in an old ruin accompanying it. She looked curiously at the heading under the picture.

**Palkia, the Spatial pokémon.**

**Not much is known about this legendary pokémon, except for the fact that it lives in a gap in the spatial dimension next to ours. It is capable of completely altering the dimension itself, bending what many scientists theorize to be a sort of trans-dimensional energy used to create gaps in the dimensions and travel to other unknown ones. More research is needed…**

Here the text trailed off and a large red 'X' was put through the paragraph. A paper taped under it showed instead

**It has the ability to distort space. It is described as a deity in Sinnoh-region mythology.**

Robin and Lin exchanged a glance over the continuing description of the mythology.

* * *

Usopp was polishing something as Lin walked into his workshop. She looked around, not alerting the sniper to her presence. While they had passed the room in Nami's tour, this was Lin's first real look into Usopp's Workshop. It was pretty impressive with all of the barrels of trinkets, and Lin always appreciated the random trinket; especially when it was being put to good use.

Lin peered curiously over Usopp's shoulder. "What you got there?" Usopp yelped and tossed the object as his hands flew into the air, and it flew a bit before thudding into a nearby wall. And staying in the wall, much to the amusement of Lin. Usopp realized what had happened in an instant and he scowled heavily, going to retrieve the object.

"Don't you knock before entering a room? Or make noise? At all?" Lin shrugged.

"The door was open, and you seemed busy. This is a pretty cool place." Usopp forgot any anger in an instant as it was replaced with pride. He swelled out his chest, jabbing a thumb at it.

"Well, they don't call this the great Captain Usopp's Workshop for nothing! It's here where I have all of my glorious creations, including the latest one that is _stuck in the wall_!" Usopp grunted as he pulled out the thing, handing it to Lin.

Lin gaped at it, it was… "A boomerang?"

A boomerang it was. A splendid, foot and a half long boomerang, blue-grey in color with a metallic sheen. The boomerang was curved similar to Helmeppo's kukri, with a sharp point on each side. Painted on the very edge of the curve was a black diamond design similar to the white diamond pattern on Pika's bandanna. Lin noted something a bit odd about the black-tipped pointed edges as Usopp reached over to his desk and picked up another matching boomerang and handed it to Lin.

"I made two of them; but they aren't just _boomerangs_, they're… They're…" Usopp paused, then scratched his head as he looked over his desk some more. "Well, usually I have more time to actually come up with a name… But look" He turned and took one of the boomerangs from Lin and held it up.

"You see the edge? That's really, really sharp; these can be used as swords, too. And there's a bit more." Usopp tapped the black tips. "These things are special magnets, I would have put in some dials (although you wouldn't know what those are) but it would have messed with the aerodynamics of the blade. If you put in a bit of electricity in them, the magnets intensify it and keep it on the boomerang until it disperses quite painfully into the next thing they touch." Lin snapped out of staring at the weapons to look at Usopp.

"Such as the person holding them?" Usopp shook his head, reaching behind him towards his desk and grabbing something.

"Not if they're wearing these!" He handed a pair of black gloves to Lin, fingerless just like the ones she was wearing, much to her delight. She felt the material and stared at them, perplexed.

"Rubber? Or leather?" Usopp grinned.

"A little bit of both. When we were in the New World, we came across a monster with rubber-like properties in his hide, rendering any electric attacks against it useless. Of course I, the great Captain Usopp, nonetheless pulled a brave and daring stunt that would only-" Lin cleared her throat. "Right. But the point is, I saved the leather from the monster's hide and I used it to make these gloves. I also made them similar to the ones you usually wear. The electricity won't affect you at all when wearing them." Lin stared at the gloves in one hand and the boomerangs in the other, before snatching Usopp for a hug.

"Thanks, Usopp! I love them!" Usopp blinked a bit then smirked.

"I thought you would; let me show you how to throw them."

* * *

Lin pulled on her new gloves as they stepped out on the deck, flexing her hands a bit. The leather seemed to actually have some sort of elasticity in it, and the gloves fit like a second skin. Lin briefly wondered if it was how Luffy felt with rubber skin himself.

Usopp looked around a bit, noting Zoro sleeping on the bench of the main mast, before motioning for Lin to follow him towards the back of the deck, near the tree with a swing in it. Taking one of the boomerangs from her, he began explaining how it worked.

"A boomerang has to be thrown a little oddly. There are a lot of different ways to throw it, but only a few will actually make it come back to you. You need to remember which boomerang goes in which direction, too." Lin blinked rapidly, attempting to pay attention to Usopp's explanation.

"The boomerangs are different?" Usopp nodded, motioning for the boomerang in Lin's hand. Holding them up, he indicated the black diamond pattern.

"I only put the paint on one side of the boomerang. When you hold them up, you want to see the paint on _your_ side. When throwing" Here he handed one of the boomerangs back to Lin, taking up a stance with the other in his left hand. "You need to tilt the boomerang on its side a bit. You always throw overhand, giving it a bit of spin." Here Usopp demonstrated and gave the boomerang a throw, and Lin watched as it circled around the mast (disturbing Zoro slightly as it whizzed precariously above his sleeping head) then came back in a loop directly to Usopp as he caught it, jabbing out his hand and snatching it carefully.

"You need to watch out; because it's metal it doesn't have that far of a range so it comes back a bit quicker than a normal boomerang. And because it's sharp you have to be extra careful about catching it." Lin nodded. She held up the other boomerang in her right hand and attempted to mimic Usopp's previous stance.

"Like this?" Usopp looked over her stance carefully.

"Turn the boomerang a bit more to the side—Yes, like that. Show me how you would throw; slowly, and without letting go." Lin made a motion with the boomerang. "Not too bad, but mind your curve a bit more. Like this." He made another motion. Lin tried again, and this time Usopp seemed a bit more satisfied. "Good. Now try throwing it."

Lin was about to do so when she noticed that Zoro had woken up. And was watching them. Particularly the sharp boomerang in Lin's hand that was similar to the one that had nearly given him a haircut just before. And he did not look happy about Lin throwing another one in his general direction. Especially when while Usopp wasn't known as Sniper King for nothing, Lin had yet to ever aim a boomerang.

Lin gulped and turned to the side instead. Remembering Usopp's advice, she gave it a good throw, watching as it curved away from the side of the ship and disappeared behind the round building on the ship. The boomerang came back, but Lin realized that she had yet to learn how to catch it, and ducked just as the sharp edges passed over her hat. It headed instead for Zoro, who opened a sleepy eye as it came and caught it, yawning. Usopp retrieved it then looked over it, puzzled. Lin came and looked at it too. There was a sticky liquid on the blade, an almost orange tint contrasting the bluish hue. Lin rubbed a finger through it, then tasted it. She raised an eyebrow.

"Orange juice?" Usopp paled greatly, and even Zoro began to look uneasy as Lin suddenly realized the implications. Lin could hear her death march somewhere in the distance. She gave a start just as Nami came out from below deck, a pair of tree trimmers in her hand. Nami raised an eyebrow at the three, who looked really uneasy at her presence.

"Usopp? You doing what I asked you to do?" Usopp carefully nodded.

"I-I'm teaching Lin how to use her weapon, honest! Right Lin?" Lin nodded in agreement, still eyeing Nami carefully. Zoro turned and went up into the crow's nest. Nami smiled.

"Good. When I first got my weapon, Usopp only handed me a bunch of instructions mainly on how to use it as a party machine. I almost got killed because of it!" Usopp nodded, still thinking about the mikan trees that were behind the building where the boomerang had disappeared to briefly.

"Yes, it's all my fault. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go and see something over there. Sea King watch, you understand. We'll continue training on land." Nami watched in confusion as Usopp grabbed Lin and dragged her far, far away from the navigator. She thought carefully to herself as she walked up the deck to her mikan trees.

"Why would we watch for Sea Kings in the East Blu-" She cut herself off as she surveyed her trees.

Lin and Usopp were power walking to the other side of the ship when a shriek sounded off. Lin and Usopp flinched, Lin turning to Usopp.

"I got a book you may want to see, how about now? As in _right now_." Usopp nodded frantically and they sprinted for the library. Nami appeared in front of the door suddenly, a most terrifying look on her face.

"Lin, Usopp…" Nami said carefully, and Lin could swear that her eyes turned red as she glared at them. "**WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY MIKAN TREES?**"

"RUN AWAY!" Usopp screeched, and he and Lin turned tail and fled, Nami running after them furiously.

"GET BACK HERE YOU TWO; DON'T THINK YOU CAN RUN FROM _ME_!"

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, I SWEAR!"

"LAND! LOOK NAMI, LAND!"

"AS IF I'D FALL FOR THAT YOU LIAR!"

"REALLY NAMI, I SEE LAND TOO!" Nami turned and looked, only to actually see the towering form of the Shell Town marine base in the distance. Usopp paused and turned to see what Nami was looking at. He blinked rapidly.

"Well, what do you know? There's actually land!" Lin turned and looked as well, gaping at the luck of it all. Nami suddenly stood behind them in their distraction, a hand on each of their shoulders and they suddenly shivered. Nami smiled sweetly.

"Well, we won't be there for at least forty-five minutes. That should give you two plenty of time to _fix my mikan_!" She ended in a yell, grabbing the two by the back of their collars and dragging them to the back deck. Lin whimpered slightly.

"Mommy!"

* * *

Garp and Coby walked down the gangplank into the Shell Town harbor, where a line of marines stood on either side, saluting them. A long marine stood at the end of the line, wearing a captain's cloak and saluting them as they walked up to him.

"Vice-admiral Garp! Commodore Coby! To what do we owe the honor, sir?" Garp laughed loudly, startling the nearby marines and the few townsfolk that were pressed around the harbor, curious about the large marine ship that had docked not too long ago.

Coby smiled and looked around, noting how little had actually changed. He thought Helmeppo would appreciate it, even if he had insisted on staying on the ship. Coby had consented, knowing that while he forgave him for his old ways, a whole town may not be quite as understanding. Garp gave the marine in front of him a lazy salute, grinning in his usual way.

"Captain Ripper! We're just here to grab some stuff, I was visiting my grandson and this town was the nearest place to grab any supplies!" Ripper looked a bit disoriented at the mention of Garp's grandson, the Pirate King, but nodded nonetheless.

"Well sir, there are plenty of places to-"

"COBY-SAAAN!" A little figure darted between the ranks of marines and launched itself at Coby, who caught it in his arms and held it up in confusion. Suddenly, he grinned and pulled in the figure close.

"Rika-chan!" Garp laughed outright while Ripper didn't know to be ashamed of his marines for letting a little girl slip by them or amused at the scene. He simply decided to ignore it, but made a mental note of the marines and their names. Coby smiled as he set down Rika.

"Hey there, Rika-chan." Rika beamed up at him for a second, but then scowled and began kicking Coby in the shin, much to the horror of the surrounding marines.

"Stupid Coby-san! Not saying goodbye! Not visiting sooner!" Rika sniffled slightly, pausing in her kicking. Coby's face softened and he leaned down and hugged her.

"I'm here now, aren't I?" Rika nodded. She then beamed.

"And now you can have some of my onigiri! I'll make a special batch, just for you!" Coby's face twisted unnaturally, but he managed to nod in what Rika interpreted to be an enthusiastic manner. Garp laughed, then stated how he wouldn't mind having some as well, ignoring the frantic head shakes of Coby (and a few marines, including Ripper, oddly enough) Rika was about to agree but was interrupted by the frantic running of a marine recruit from the base.

"Captain Ripper sir! Pirates are coming! And not just any pirates either, the Pirate King himself!" The poor man looked as though he wanted to also shout 'we're all gonna die,' but he managed to restrain himself in the presence of superiors. Ripper looked into the distance thoughtfully, where he could just make out a small dot in the distance. Many of the nearby marines looked in the same direction nervously, muttering until Ripper held up a hand. He looked at them sternly.

"Don't forget what the captain has done for this town. I doubt that they are coming here to invade, but keep a sharp eye out for them." Rika looked at Coby eagerly.

"Does that mean Onii-san is coming here too?" Coby nodded, much to the confusion of the marines. Rika cheered. "I'll have to make a lot more onigiri then! I can't wait to see Onii-san!" Rika ran off down the street, and Coby turned to the perplexed marines.

"She means Zoro-san, of course." The marines made an odd little faint at the mention of the demon pirate hunter that they had previously tied up, beaten, and starved. And was now on the crew of the Pirate King. And was now the Greatest Swordsman in the World.

And was no doubt coming to wreak his horrible vengeance on them all.

Garp laughed loudly as a whole group of marines ran frantically to the marine base, the others not having been there during ex-Captain Morgan's reign or just being too stupid to realize the implications. Captain Ripper watched them run with a semi-bemused expression, although his entire face said 'cowards.' Garp clapped Coby on the back, nearly sending the poor soul to the ground.

"Guahahaha! This town is so interesting! We need to come back here again, Coby!"

* * *

Oh, Garp. You people didn't think you'd be rid of him so easily, did you? :D If you got the fact that his words are parallel to Luffy's comment when he was in Shell Town, congratz! Ripper was the commander that was left in charge after Captain Morgan, and he only got promoted to one level above (I had to look up marine ranks on One Piece Wikia) during the past couple of years, but not much happens in East Blue to earn that kind of promotion to captain. After all, the only reason Morgan got promoted so far was because he 'captured' Kuro. And we all know what _really_ happened. D:

Onigiri-sensei? Cookies to those who get the reference. Because the second I saw that guy I immediately thought of Zoro.

Yeah, so I was about halfway through this chapter when I realized that Usopp names his weapons. I couldn't think of anything for the life of me, so if you guys have an idea, please let me know!

Happy Birthday Usopp! To one of the less appreciated characters (turns out that you guys like Franky the least according to my poll) I give you… Well, does a main appearance count as a present? Usopp actually has the most screen time besides Lin in this chapter, go figure.

Boomerangs? That can be used as swords? Credit to SilverStar94 (as usual) for the amazing idea and for the scene of the little mishap with the boomerangs! Does Lin have an official position on the crew yet? Nah. But Luffy, if you think about it, actually doesn't seem to think too much about recruiting people for their required skills. Except for Franky, Nami, and Brooke. But that's just because people kept nagging him about getting a shipwright and a navigator, and his heart was dead set on a musician from day one. She'll get her position when it comes to it.

What possessed Professor Rowan to discontinue his research on different dimensions? What does Palkia have to do with anything? How will the crew survive Rika's hospitality? Will they stay in Shell Town for long? (The answer is no; MAD lack of suspense) And what evil plans does the authoress have for that little dojo of Zoro's? OH BOY, DO I HAVE EVIL PLANS. If you guys thought I was going to leave the universe unscathed in this story, YOU'RE DEAD WRONG. The excitement will come, yo. The excitement will come.

**TO THOSE THAT HAVE SUBMITTED OCS:**

I have received them all and will use them most definitely! But some I may not use in this saga, as I have bigger plans for the next one and the third one. Then it's all going to EXPLODE in the fourth. :D ... I think. I've only fully planned the second and third...


	11. Moving Along

Due to circumstances far too complicated to get into, I had to post this a little early. That, and I'm still freaking out over the whole day late thing. Silly me. I should be back to my normal schedule by next week, so enjoy! … I hope. For the life of me I couldn't think of a proper title or a good quote, so if you can think of something, please tell me! And the whole Lin's weapons name thing. I need a name for those too!

Yes, I did spend the whole week attempting to think of something. I looked at different Japanese words, different weapons from different animes, and I even looked at Sokka's boomerang from Avatar: the Last Airbender (which is uncannily like Lin's, much to my horror. I didn't mean it, I swear!) But he just called it 'Boomerang.' D: So then I spent a few days looking at quotes, but I couldn't think of where to look! Half of this chapter is rather pointless, you see. So what kind of quote would I even go searching for? Oh dear, I really need your guys' help for this! Please!

In other news, you guys didn't get the whole Onigiri-sensei thing… That's okay. It's from the game Okami for Wii, where you play as the Japanese god of the sun incarnated into a wolf (Okami means wolf in Japanese, sometimes spelled Ookami) and in the game there was a dojo you could learn new moves in. The teacher there was named Onigiri-sensei, and when he agreed to train you his head turned upside down. Literally. It amused me every time. Fun game yo. Fun game.

Got rid of 'Cod Liver Oil,' but it was replaced with 'Concerning Charlie Horse.' As in the horse, not the painful infliction. You know, I had to first ask someone 'If I ask you a question, do you promise not to punch me in the leg?' before I could ask them what a Charlie horse was. People kept punching me in the leg and it didn't do anything! Besides the whole 'getting punched' thing, of course. Not exactly my idea of fun.

BUTANYWAYS. In this segment of semi-credit semi-advertisement I bring to you 'Psycho on the Going Merry' by SkieLoon and 'Oro' by Aka Pine.

Let me be the first to admit that yes, I have a strange obsession with the whole 'girl falling into One Piece' concept. Personally I like both crack and completely serious fics, but this falls into a little bit of both categories. Mostly crack though. :D 'Psycho on the Going Merry' is the story of Skie, an absolutely psychotic girl who appeared on the Going Merry after being hit by a truck. Yes, I made a reference somewhere back in chapter three. Congratulations. The story of how she brings insanity (at least more than usual) to the crew's lives with her utter randomness and strange friends, all the while annoying the hell out of Zoro. This is actually a pre-Grand Line characters fic, but I still enjoy reading it greatly.

'Oro' is actually not a multi-chapter fic. But this arc is focused on Zoro, so when I looked for some more Zoro-centric goodness I found that I loved this so much~! Just a little thing about Zoro's gold earrings. That could probably be used to pay off his debt to Nami. Sort of a 'why he doesn't just do so' thing with a bit of nakama bonding at the end. It makes sense to me, even if you don't know what I'm talking about. You have to reeeead iiiiit. Silly!

On the note of money, I will directly avoid stating the crew's bounty in this story. I imagine after the recent saga that their bounties will go up a bit (you know, for the whole punching royalty, invading the most secure prison in the world and breaking out, then invading Marineford, the World Government capital itself. It may go up if only even a little bit.) So I'm just avoiding that whole thing. Go me.

Here's another important note for this arc and the next one: **Zoro's swords. **Obviously, losing Kuina's sword would be a huge taboo. I can't tell for the whole Sandai Kitetsu (his cursed sword he got in Logue Town, I may give him a different sword than that but will otherwise avoid that too) but he has Shuusui! As in Ryuuma's sword that he got from Thriller Bark. **THIS IS VITAL TO MY PLOT THAT HE HAS THIS SWORD. **Oh dear, what could I ever be planning…?

Dooooooooon't own One Piece! Dooooooooon't own Pokémon! Dooooooooon't own some of the characters shadowed in the backgrouuuuuund~! Imagine that being sung!

* * *

Lin grumbled to herself as she picked up the various branches scattered about. The damage done to the trees wasn't as bad as she first thought (with Nami's reaction, you would have thought Lin had decapitated her firstborn) with damage mainly done to the branches at the top. But it was still damage, and Lin had officially broken the first two of her own rules of 'What Not To Do When On The Straw Hat's Ship.'

**Rule Number One: Don't screw with their treasures. Ever. While this rule mainly applies to Luffy's hat, there is still a major taboo on the others, as Luffy seems to be offended at the screwing with his nakama's treasures as well.**

**Rule Number Two: Do not get in debt with Nami, as it is a life-long commitment full of hassling and toil and blackmail that will never ever ever ever ever **_**ever**_** leave you! Like getting your photo taken at a three-year-old's party with the mascot. It will always be on **_**someone's**_** hard drive.**

There were many more rules that Lin had compiled in her reading of the manga and fanfics; things that she had always told herself if she did somehow manage to get into One Piece and join the Straw Hats, she would never do. And what was the first thing she did?

She broke Nami's trees and was now in debt. To Nami. Lin was in debt to _Nami_. Also known as the beginning of the end of her life. Usopp, her partner in crime and debt, had assured her that she had gotten off easy with a debt of _only_ **one hundred thousand beri**. A debt that came tacked with interest, and would take the turning in of the Cat Thief herself to pay it off. But then Nami might increase her debt, and that would be just stupid.

Usopp had also assured her that they were all in debt to Nami; well, except for Robin. But that was only because whenever they went exploring Robin had a habit of (as Usopp bitterly put it) 'sucking up' to Nami by bringing back some form of treasure or a treasure map. Lin thought Robin was a very wise person indeed. Nami came back after Lin and Usopp had picked up all of the branches, stating that they would continue work after coming back to the Sunny.

"And you may not have any money now because of the whole 'trans-dimensional' thing, but I do expect you had some way of getting money back home, right?" Lin nodded, but then protested.

"Yeah, but I had a _job_. Two jobs, actually. As in the _legal_ way to get money, when you have a permanent residence!" Nami looked at Lin curiously, ignoring the sarcasm.

"What did-"

"LAAAAAAAAAND!!!" Luffy gave a whoop of glee and nearly rocketed off of the ship (literally) if not for Zoro grabbing him by the back of his vest. Luffy pouted as the rest of the crew looked to where Franky had docked. Lin gaped.

Marines. Everywhere. With guns. Not pointed at them, but the nervous marines looked as though they wanted to shoot them all; something that Lin wasn't too keen on. Lin practically vibrated with terror at the thought, unable to move from the side of the ship. She looked past the marines in a desperate attempt to calm down, and noticed a group of townspeople watching both them and the marines. The townspeople looked as though they were torn between terror themselves or criticism at the marines, and Lin wondered idly if they were ever going to get over the whole Morgan episode. Any murmuring in the crowd was silenced as an important looking marine stepped up in front of the marines, looking straight at Luffy and Zoro. Lin recognized him as the marine that had allowed Coby to join the marines. What was his name? Ripcord? Rover? Ah, she'd come to that later.

What was important now was that he was speaking. "Mugiwara!" Luffy stood up straight and looked at the man oddly, as though recognizing his face but being unable to place how he knew him.

"Yes?" The man cleared his throat and continued.

"Why are you here? Out of gratitude, I have asked my men not to shoot you on sight. But I guarantee if you are here for anything less than honorable, we will not show any leniency." The crowd stayed silent, and Lin respected his wording that both showed his responsibility as a marine, but didn't completely turn against them. Smart guy.

Luffy grinned at the man. "We need to pass through to visit another town! Plus me and Zoro wanted to say hi!" Zoro gave a rather feral grin at this, and about half of the marines screamed 'I told you so!' and began shaking so hard that even Lin could see it. The sight made Lin smile despite herself, and she turned to see that Zoro was enjoying himself greatly. The captain shook his head sadly at the quivering marines, then turned back to Luffy.

"Well, that seems reasonable enough. As long as your, uh, swordsman doesn't attempt to seek revenge on my men as they imagine, you will be watched, but not attacked." Luffy grinned and turned to Zoro.

"You won't get revenge, right Zoro?" Zoro put up a great show about his decision, during which the marines looked as though they wanted to either beg for mercy or run far away; but in the end he nodded, much to the relief of everyone. The man gave a sharp nod at his decision and turned and walked back to the base, giving a glare to the small group that not-so-subtly attempted to follow.

"Show your pride as men and marines! Cowards!" The men flinched and returned to their positions with stony expressions, although anyone could tell that they were on edge. The man paused and turned to the pirates.

"You should probably know that Vice-Admiral Garp is here. Along with your little friend, too." Luffy and Zoro exchanged a glance as the captain waved a hand nonchalantly and returned to the base, leaving behind a group of marines to escort them. Even if they looked like they'd rather not at all.

Zoro looked like he would enjoy this, he would enjoy this a lot. The crew watched his expression curiously even as they prepared to go into town.

* * *

The group walked through town a bit awkwardly, with the marines watching their every step. Although they mainly seemed to be watching Zoro, who amused himself by meeting their glances every once in a while with a smirk, which would never fail to make a man quiver slightly and edge away. Sanji eyed the marines thoughtfully.

"What did you two do here, exactly?" Zoro and Luffy shrugged. Lin spoke up next, Pika was sitting on her head again and repeatedly poking her.

"Um, is there a store around here?" The crew turned to her and she smiled sheepishly. "I need to get something that I promised Pika." Robin smiled.

"Well, one of these nice marines may be willing to take you to the store. We'll meet up at the restaurant then." Nami perked up at the mention of purchases.

"Are you going to need money? I'll lend you some for-"

"NO. That's okay, I have a little. It's just one thing. Will you guys watch Pika for me, though?" Lin tugged Pika off of her head and handed her to Franky, then walked away before Nami could question when she had obtained money, and why she didn't give it to her. A few marines immediately followed.

Franky looked oddly at the pikachu in his hand. "So what _did_ the alien-sis promise to get you?"

"Pikachu." Chopper looked up at Pika and wrinkled his nose.

"… Ketchup?"

"… You are a strange creature indeed."

"ONII-SAAAAAN!!!" Zoro nearly toppled forward as a small blur attempted to tackle him, driving the air from his lungs. The crew and marines prepared for an attack until the dust settled and revealed the culprit. A small girl, about eight-years-old, was clinging to Zoro and attempting to squeeze the life out of him. The crew immediately relaxed, some laughing harder than others, as Zoro attempted to recover the use of his lungs.

However, the marines still looked on edge, as though they expected Zoro to do something horrible to the poor girl. One of them finally couldn't take it anymore and yelled "Little girl! Get away from that pirate!" The girl turned and looked at him in confusion.

"But why would I run from Onii-sa-" Zoro finally managed to recover and picked up the small girl by the waist with both hands, holding her up as he looked her over critically. The marines' breath hitched as his scowl never lessened. He then blinked a bit.

"Oh, it's you." He put her down as she beamed at the recognition. She latched on to his leg again in her joy.

"YAY! Onii-san's here too! I made some special onigiri for you and your crew too! I put alllll my heart into them~! Coby-san said that you guys eat a _lot_, so I made lots and lots and lots of it all for you guys! Come on!" And the small girl let go of Zoro's leg and dragged him by the hand into the Food Foo, much to the amusement of the crew.

* * *

Sanji snickered at the look on Zoro's face as he followed the girl into the restaurant. Sanji knew that kids seemed to latch onto Zoro during the crew's travels, but who would have guessed even back in the East Blue? Back when he was known as the bloodthirsty pirate hunter (he still was known as such, oddly enough, but being in a crew seemed to humanize Zoro to a degree), who would have guessed anyone had the gall to call the man 'Onii-san?'

His amusement grew ten-fold when he saw the sight at one of the tables. Garp was sitting there with Coby (wasn't there another marine that was usually with him?) and they had a plate of onigiri in front of them that Garp was putting away like his grandson. The little girl noted which plate it was and let out a little indignant shriek, picking up the nearest wooden spoon.

"No Garp-san! Those are for Onii-san and his crew!!" She rapped the man sharply on the knuckles as he reached for another and Garp yanked back his hand, rubbing it and muttering to himself. A woman that resembled the girl was standing and chatting with Coby. Coby then noticed the crew and waved with the onigiri in his hand.

"Hey there Luffy-san. Everyone else. What are you guys doing here?" Garp looked up and scowled but at a look from the little girl he sat back.

"Neat trick with the ship. And I heard you got a new crewmember, too! Bwahahaha! Where is she?" The group looked at each other oddly, Nami speaking up first.

"Where _is_ she? What's taking so long??"

* * *

Lin scowled at the man behind the counter. "I told you, I just want-"

"And perhaps you'd also be interested in a complimentary T-shirt from DOSKO1 PANDA; only from the finest-"

"That brand's a rip off! I'm only here for some-"

"Perhaps you'd also appreciate a-" Lin slammed her hands on the counter and grabbed the man's shirt dangerously. Normally she was a very patient person, but something about falling from the sky, breaking her own rules, and now this crackpot trying to play her for a fool really pissed her off.

"GET ME SOME DAMNED KETCHUP OR I _WILL_ RIP YOU INTO LITTLE PIECES!!!" She snarled, nearly throttling the man. The marines escorting her shook in terror, backing away a few paces. Lin took a deep breath and smiled sweetly at the man after he handed her a bottle. "Thank you very much. How much will that be?"

"O-on the house, m-ma'am."

"Oh, really? Thank you!" She turned and walked out of the store and down the street. One of the marines turned and looked at the clerk.

"You really did it that time, Charlie. She's on the crew of the Pirate King himself!"

Charlie fainted.

* * *

Lin scowled as she carried the ketchup down the street, still peeved about the delay. "I can't believe he tried to sell me so much! All I wanted was a little ketchup, was that too much to ask??" She paused as she stopped in front of a familiar restaurant. Stepping inside, she glanced around until she noticed her crew, which were all about to sit at a table. Walking up to them, she began apologizing.

"Sorry I took so long." Nami turned and scowled.

"Where have you been?? It doesn't take that long to buy one thing at the store!" Lin held up her hands.

"It does if the clerk is an absolute nut and won't stop trying to sell you stuff other than what you're looking for in the first place." Lin gave a start as a small hand tugged at her pants and she turned. Standing there with an angelic face and an onigiri in her hands was Rika, a large smile on her face. Lin immediately dropped the ketchup and hugged the girl.

"You're so cute!" Nami sweat dropped at the scene.

"You like kids, eh?" Pika turned and saw the ketchup on the ground, scampering over and tasting a bit that had leaked out the open top.

"… Pikachu~!" Pika swooned around, dancing in a little circle with the bottle, completely taken by the taste. The few crewmembers that were watching sweat dropped; their new members certainly were weird. Coby looked to see who had come in and gave a start.

"Eh? Lin-san?" Lin released the girl and turned and blinked.

"… Coby?" Coby nodded. Lin only had to think a minute to guess that Helmeppo wouldn't want to come to Shell Town, and was most likely hiding on their ship. Coby smiled.

"So you ended up joining them?" Lin smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah."

"And your friend?" Lin pointed.

"Over there, with the ketchup bottle." Coby turned to see Pika hugging the ketchup and rubbing a cheek against it tenderly, licking a bit of ketchup off the sides. He sweat dropped.

Lin joined the crew at the table as Rika stepped up with a tray of onigiri. She handed the first one to Zoro, beaming up at him in adoration. Ririka looked at the crew and threw them an apologetic look. Lin carefully watched his face as it twisted ever so slightly, but quickly smoothed out as he tried the first bite.

Well, it was poisoned. The little girl had gone assassin and was going to kill them all in the worst way possible.

At least that was what Zoro's face said for a fraction of a second, before he mustered every ounce of willpower and crammed the rest of the onigiri in his mouth and swallowed. He then passed out, his face an odd shade of bluish-green.

Lin officially concluded that Rika's recipe had evolved far beyond the simple 'replace salt with sugar,' although how it was possible to mess up a recipe that barely called for more than a few ingredients so badly was a true mystery. She had to respect him though; in his last hour he did his best not to hurt the little girl.

Rika looked at Zoro curiously. "Onii-san? Is it good?" Luffy laughed loudly at the frozen expression on his fallen nakama's face.

"Isn't it good, Zoro? It must have been too much for him! Ha! Hey, could I have some more??" The crew and Ririka looked from Zoro to stare incredulously at Luffy, who was putting away the onigiri at a rate that was quickly depleting the girl's stock. Not that they minded, of course. Luffy was most definitely assassin-proof.

It was after much onigiri-avoiding and swordsman-reviving that they finally sat down and began talking, Rika insisting on sitting as close to Zoro as possible, much to his discomfort. Lin giggled a bit at the look on Zoro's face as Rika sat with the cutest expression; she always knew the man was a big softie. Nami finally broke the silence.

"So, Zoro… How did you meet your… little friend?" Nami looked as though she was trying to hide a smile. Rika beamed up at Nami.

"See, there used to be this mean old marine named Captain Morgan here." She began. Sanji blinked, turning to Nami.

"Didn't we read about a marine named Morgan in the newspaper, Nami-san?" Nami nodded.

"Yes, we read about his arrest. Now hush!" Rika continued.

"He was so mean! And his son Helmeppo was the worst! He had a pet wolf that would always attack, and if you didn't do everything he said he would tell on you and have you executed!" The group turned to stare at Coby, who was sitting at another table. Coby met their expressions with a nervous chuckle.

"Something like that, yeah." Rika turned to Coby with a smile.

"Once Helmeppo came here with that stupid wolf, and he wouldn't stop eating the customer's food! So I tried to stop him, but the wolf almost got me. Then Onii-san got the wolf before he got me! But Helmeppo was mad about that, and he tried to attack Onii-san." The crew could easily imagine what had happened. Zoro never was exactly tolerant of people attacking him.

"Of course Onii-san won! But Helmeppo said that he would arrest me and my mom for the wolf instead of him. So Onii-san made a deal with him." The crew exchanged glances, before Sanji spoke up.

"What kind of deal, exactly?" Rika seemed eager to tell them and Zoro simply looked bored.

"Onii-san would be arrested for a whole month without food, and then he would leave me and my mom alone! They tied him up in the execution yard and kept beating him up every day!" The crew stared at Zoro in amazement; even Sanji had a bit of grudging respect in his eyes. Zoro only looked as though he wanted to sleep somewhere. Rika turned and hugged Zoro around the middle, making him start slightly. Ririka smiled at the scene, continuing for her daughter.

"He was so brave, and we didn't even know him! They even took away his swords and he didn't do anything. We can never thank you enough." The crew knew what a taboo that was, to take away Zoro's swords. The man was about permanently attached to them, especially the white one.

"Zoro-san really is amazing…" The crew gave a start and turned to see Coby leaning in and listening to the story. He blinked as they stared at him. "Sorry. I love this story. Tell them about when Luffy-san came in, Rika-chan!" Rika nodded.

"So it was about three weeks after Zoro was arrested when Luffy-san and Coby-san came to town. They were going to the marine base when I was too!" Ririka interrupted at this point.

"I thought you said that you _didn't_ go to see Zoro again, Rika! You could have been executed!" Rika looked up at her mother with large eyes.

"But Onii-san was starving, and it was all my fault… I had to feed him! I made those onigiri with all of my heart…" Ririka sighed. "But Onii-san kept telling me he wasn't hungry and that I had to leave, but that was when Helmeppo came and took away my onigiri!" Ririka looked as though she were about to faint.

"He… caught you…??" Rika nodded, oblivious.

"Yeah, but he said that he didn't like my onigiri and he shoved it on the ground with his foot! He was so mean; I made those for Onii-san only!" The little girl looked as though she was about to tear up at the thought of his actions. Zoro looked uncomfortable until Rika suddenly beamed.

"Then Coby-san and Luffy-san told me that he ate it anyway, and that it was really good too!" Zoro looked away awkwardly as Robin chuckled slightly.

"You are a very kind man, Swordsman-san." Zoro grumbled, cheeks a tad pink.

"Shut up." Sanji immediately stood.

"What did you say to Robin-chan, you big softie??" Zoro stood as well.

"You want to repeat that Ero-cook??" Nami stood up as well, grabbing Sanji by the collar and shoving him down. She then glared at Zoro, who also sat down slowly.

"You are both nuts!" Sanji immediately cowered down while Zoro grumbled a bit. Nami continued. "But that was very sweet what you did for the little girl, Zoro." Nami then exchanged a glance with Robin, both smirking slightly. Franky then asked

"So what happened to that Morgan guy?" Rika smiled, although a bit put out by Nami.

"Luffy-san and Onii-san beat him up! And then Coby joined the marines! But then he went away and didn't visit until today!" Coby winced.

"I said I was sorry…" Garp guffawed.

"So that's what happened to Morgan! You would have made such a great marine…" Garp sniffed. "Finding corrupt bastards and stopping them… Why couldn't you go right…?" Garp looked as though he were about to burst into tears, but then suddenly perked up.

"Well, if you need it, we can always take the ship into custody until you louts return! Plus the little girl makes the best onigiri! Bwahahaha!" The crew sweat dropped.

"Bipolar much…?" Lin mumbled to herself just as Luffy gave a little 'oh' as Garp's words kicked in.

"You mean you'll watch Sunny for us??" At Garp's nod he gave a little cheer. "Yay~! Thanks Gramps!" Luffy turned to the crew.

"Now we can go to Shimotsuki! Come on!"

* * *

The crew sighed, each carrying a pack. Lin was simply carrying her backpack, filled with supplies they would need for the few days they would be walking. Pika was sitting on her head, clinging to the bottle of ketchup which she was taking little licks of in delight. Zoro was attempting to leave, but Rika was clinging to him with watery eyes.

"Don't leave Onii-san! I'll miss you~" Lin walked over and patted Rika on the head.

"We'll come back after a bit, and then you can make Zoro some more onigiri. But how else are you going to be able to make more unless we leave for a little bit?" The girl slowly nodded.

"That makes sense… Okay!" She beamed. "I'll have plenty of onigiri for you when you come back! Goodbye Onii-san!" Zoro sighed in relief as she skipped back into the restaurant.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it, Onigiri-sensei."

* * *

"I spy with my little eye something… brown."

"The path?"

"… Yeah." Lin sighed. She had attempted to teach Usopp and Chopper the game of 'I Spy,' but it was a bit pointless when all that they were surrounded by were rolling hills of grass with a path right down the middle of it. While the crew themselves were certainly a colorful bunch, Lin could think of a thousand different scenarios where something would go wrong if she attempted to use Zoro's green hair or Chopper's blue nose.

Maybe the whole game thing wasn't working out. "Maybe we should try the game when there are more things around." Usopp and Chopper nodded. Up ahead, Luffy began pestering Sanji.

"Come on Sanji! Just a little break for lunch!" A vein throbbed on Sanji's forehead.

"No lunch until Nami-san declares a good break time! You know that, so why are you bugging _me_??" Luffy shrugged.

"Maybe you'd feed me, because when I asked Nami said no." Sanji immediately kicked him away.

"Don't ask me if you already know the answer then!" Nami rolled her eyes as Luffy rolled away, stopped, then sat up and pouted.

"Naaaami…"

"I told you no already, we've only been walking for two hours! Wasn't that little girl's onigiri enough for you?? You ate them all!" Luffy shook his head.

"No. But I only ate them because you guys wouldn't, and Zoro had passed out! Plus they were really good, too. Sanji, could you make them like that?"

"I'm a cook, not an assassin."

"But me and Zoro love them, right Zoro?"

"Hn."

"In that case, I'd love to make them for the marimo. I'll ask for her recipe next time."

There was about an hour of silence which Luffy broke yet again. "I'm booooored! Zoro, is there going to be food where you live??" Zoro shrugged.

"I lived in the dojo, which was pretty much in the middle of no where. None of us really went into town that often. Probably why I had such a hard time finding it again…" The crew sweat dropped.

"Something tells me that swordsman-bro would have had a hard time even if he'd lived in the town his whole life…" Franky muttered.

* * *

That night the crew was sitting around a campfire, with Sanji cooking their dinner. Nami had spread out a map on a rock, and Lin and Robin were looking it over. Nami pointed to a spot on the map.

"This is where we are, and this" she pointed to a small mark a few inches away "is where Zoro's village is. We're actually going a lot faster than expected, so we may actually make it there by tomorrow afternoon. Allowing Luffy-interferences, of course." Nami looked up at Lin.

"I want you to know that there will _always_ be something that Luffy does. Never hope for the best and imagine that plans will go smoothly, got it?" Lin nodded. "Good." Robin then asked

"Lin-san, what do you normally use for traveling such distances?" Lin shrugged.

"Cars. Planes. Buses. Not many people walk anymore, but I always liked to walk to where I was going. Budget, you understand. Cars were too expensive to keep and buses always had one creep or another on them." Nami blinked.

"What about the planes then?"

"They flew. And were extremely expensive. I don't need to fly to work or school when they were all in the same area of town." Franky joined them.

"Flew? You guys had flying machines??" Lin nodded.

"Yeah. Ridiculously expensive to use, though." Franky opened his mouth. "And _no_, I don't know exactly how they worked. They were invented over a long period of time, you know!" He shut it immediately. Nami shook her head.

"Well, regardless, we need to eat and then turn in. We've been walking all day, and my feet are killing me! What about you guys?" Robin, Franky and Lin shook their heads.

"I'm used to walking, Nami-chan. Also, I'm wearing appropriate shoes."

"Ditto."

"Shoes?"

* * *

"WE'RE HEEEEEEEEERE!!!!" Luffy cheered as he spotted a town in the far distance. He began hopping around excitedly. "Finally, FOOD!!!" Nami shook her head and turned to Zoro.

"Well, is this the place?" Zoro wasn't looking at the town, though. Instead, he was looking somewhere off the path, where a few trees could be seen peeking behind one of the nearby hills. He began walking towards them.

"This way." Everyone blinked. Brooke called out to him.

"Zoro-san, is it really that way? The town is in the other direction!" Zoro called back.

"I recognize this place." And he continued forward. The crew decided to follow him, then pull him back when he got lost.

Zoro led them through a few trees that eventually made way for a forest; he continued as Nami pulled out a compass and inspected it routinely. She shook her head in awe.

"Unbelievable. We've been going in the same direction the whole time…" Lin felt as though she had witnessed a miracle. Behind her, Chopper sparkled in awe.

"M-Miracle…" Pika leaned down and blinked at Chopper.

"Pikapi?" Chopper nodded.

"Yeah, usually he gets so lost even when following someone; he just turns in the other direction!"

"Pika…"

"Yeah." They followed Zoro for a bit until they came to a clearing, where Zoro suddenly stopped. Nami blinked at his pause.

"Zoro? What's up?" Lin looked at his face, which seemed a bit more blank than usual. She looked around a bit more carefully, and then imagined that it was night, and two little kids fighting with real swords…

Oh.

That place. Zoro looked over the hills with a far off gaze, hand resting over Wado Ichimonji. He then turned to the crew.

"It's just over here." The crew nodded and followed him through the trees as they left the clearing behind.

* * *

Zoro never was exactly nostalgic, and no one could really associate the term 'sentimental' to him and not lose something important. Like an arm or a head. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit… _off_ when looking down at the dojo. His home, to be exact. Apparently they had moved back, seeing how when he went looking for them years ago they (debatably) weren't there.

Beside him, Luffy was excited to see the dojo, as he seemed to automatically associate 'civilization' with 'food.' 'Lots and lots of food.' His grin then vanished as he thought of something; turning to Zoro, he asked "Ne, Zoro; are we _really_ here this time?"

"Yeah, this is the place." Luffy gave a hard nod.

"Gotcha." He turned back to the dojo, resuming his customary excited pose. "WE'RE HEEEEEEEERE!!!!" The crew blinked a bit before relaxing.

"Wow, finally."

"I can't believe marimo actually found this place…"

"Well, stranger things have happened."

"Oh? How so, Long-nose-kun?"

"… I don't know."

"Pikachu."

"What?? But you've been riding on Lin's head the whole time! How can you be tired??"

"You're _tired_ Pika?? I've been the one carrying you! I even bought you ketchup you little-"

"**PIRAAAAAAAAAAATES!!!!!!!**" The crew's antics were cut short at a cry from the dojo. Zoro slapped his forehead.

"Leave it to us to make an entrance every time we go somewhere…"

"You're just as bad you stupid Moss-head!"

"I didn't even do anything this time!"

"Of course you didn't; you were too busy blending with the grass!"

"TE ME-"

"WILL YOU TWO JUST _KNOCK IT OFF_?!?!?!"

Meanwhile, a small boy was running through the halls of the dojo to his sensei's room. Shoving aside the rice paper slide, he immediately began shouting "Sensei! Sensei!!" The man meditating in the middle of the mat looked up, peering at the boy over his glasses.

"What's the matter, Ko?" Ko panted from the running, then gulped and began panicking.

"P-pirates are here! And not just any pirate; the Pirate King is here with his entire crew! Including the World's Greatest Swordsman!! What'll we do???" His tirade was cut short by the man's laughing.

"Oh, that's all? Nothing to worry about, then. Just visitors; they're my guests. Do you understand?" The boy seemed confused, but nodded as he straightened up.

"Hai, Sensei! Are you going to greet them yourself?" Koshiro gave the boy a small nod as he rose from his position.

"I've missed my old pupil."

* * *

His students were all crowded around at the front door, curious about the visitors. Ko had done well to spread the word that they were guests, but also that they were infamous pirates. Many of the students regarded Koshiro curiously as he made his way out the door, one of his newest then stopping him.

"Sensei, is it really okay for you to go? They're supposed to be the strongest in the world!" Koshiro chuckled slightly, pausing and looking over his shoulder.

"They _are_ the strongest, make no mistake. But what does that have to do with them being my guests?" There was a bit of hesitation as his students mumbled to themselves. Another finally said

"But what if they… attack you? They're pirates! Aren't pirates cruel and vicious? And he's the Pirate _King_!" There was a bit of a pause, Koshiro stopping and turning around fully. He regarded his students, thinking carefully over his answer.

"You may be right." He finally admitted. "But you may also be wrong. The only thing I have to go by is the fact that the Pirate King's first mate was once a student of mine. People can change, as I am aware, but Zoro never was a bad judge of character. If he found a man that he would willingly call captain, then I guarantee you that the man is someone to be highly respected, pirate or not." The students were silent as Koshiro continued out the door.

Koshiro wasn't exactly sure of what he expected from the Pirate King. If he looked at the poster, he could most likely assume that there was something wrong with whoever took the picture. After all, there were very few happy-go-lucky people in the world with the necessary strength to become the most wanted man in the world. The crew, including Zoro of course, he perhaps expected to be as monstrous and serious as he could have expected the Pirate King to be. Or he might have expected a typical gaggle of bloodthirsty pirates.

What he did not expect at all was what was awaiting him just outside. Walking out the door, even a calm and collected man like Koshiro couldn't help but say "Oh my."

Nami had succeeded in putting the boys' antics to a very violent and painful end. So violent, in fact, that it made the poor little reindeer nearly go to pieces as he attempted to both calm the navigator and inspect her victims. Pika had joined in the excitement, clambering on Franky's head (he was the closest to the chaos) and consequently flattening his hair. When Franky had attempted to both yell and pry off the little mouse, he instead startled her so much that she latched on to his face, again rendering his lungs air-less. Brooke had attempted to help his comrade by pulling Pika's tail, which resulted in a nasty shock that sent both skeleton and cyborg rolling away, crashing into the fallen boys and the doctor, sending them all careening down the hill and right in front of the dojo. Luffy had jumped into the pile about halfway down for the fun of it, dragging Usopp along with him (much to his loud protest).

Nami, Robin, and Lin watched as they crashed into a painful heap at the bottom of the hill just as a man came out of the dojo. Lin couldn't help but laugh a bit at the look on his face.

"Now _that's_ what I call an entrance!"

* * *

To say that the students were amused would be like simply stating that Luffy enjoyed meat. They were _immeasurably_ amused, to the point that when the bundle of tangled body parts (was that a _bone_ sticking out??) had landed in front of their sensei, they couldn't help but collapse from their laughter. Said laughter seemed to trigger another laugh from outside, and the students immediately quieted down as the bundle untangled itself to reveal the Pirate King, laughing.

The students themselves had their own ideas of what a pirate would look like (all revolving around suspiciously Disney-like images) and had another idea completely of what a Pirate King would look like. What they didn't expect was, again, the sight outside the dojo.

Luffy had quite enjoyed his ride down the hill. Standing up after the fall, he blinked to see that his nakama were lying around like they were sleeping. Why would they do that? Wasn't it fun? He decided to voice his opinion; thinking of something without saying it out loud never sat right with him.

"Why are you guys sleeping? We need to do that again!" The crew all turned slowly to glare at the rubbery idiot. Three fists, one shoe, one cane, one hoof, and one pair of sharp teeth immediately punished him.

"**WE ARE NOT DOING THAT AGAIN!!!!!**" Luffy lay facedown on the ground, a slight twitch of his arm indicating that he was still alive. Robin, Nami, and Lin finally made it to the bottom of the hill just as the crew recovered themselves. Lin picked up Pika.

"That's what you get for trying to sit on Franky's head. I have half a mind to take away your ketchup, you know!" Pika looked up at Lin with large, watery eyes.

"Chu…?" Lin instantly forgave her, handing her the bottle she had dropped and set her back on her own head. Nami snickered.

"You're such a sucker for the eyes." Lin shrugged sheepishly.

"Guilty."

"By the way, I'm charging you five thousand beri."

"Eh?? What for??"

"Pika is _your_ responsibility, right? This whole thing was her fault!"

"… But…"

"So that goes on your tab. Honestly, I thought I only had to worry about Luffy when it came to making a scene! Make sure that this doesn't happen again!"

"Yes Nami… By the way, who are you?" Lin blinked and turned to the man, who was watching them with a bemused face (although if Lin remembered correctly, he always seemed to be amused at something; he just had that kind of face.) The man smiled and bowed in a traditional way.

"My name is Koshiro, and I am the sensei of this dojo. Welcome. And to you, Zoro." He turned to Zoro, who was standing with all of the dignity in the world even after such a fall. Zoro nodded at him.

"Hello, Sensei." Koshiro chuckled.

"Well, I had heard the news. You've accomplished your dream." Zoro inclined his head slightly.

"_Our_ dream; it was for her, too." Koshiro nodded slowly.

"Yes" He murmured. "I suppose it was." He explained at the crew's confused looks. "My daughter shared the same dream of being the Greatest. They promised each other long ago that they would both fight for the title." Zoro closed his eyes.

"I'm going to go see her." Sanji grumbled to himself.

"Even the shitty seaweed has a girl waiting for-"

"Can it you damned cook!" Zoro snarled, cutting off Sanji and surprising the crew with the odd note in his voice. He turned to walk away, hand clutching Wado tightly. "She died a long time ago."

The crew stood in silence as he left, Koshiro watching him sadly.

* * *

A shadowed figure turned to the door just as a tall man walked in. "Well?" He demanded. The man grinned.

"Found them! They were a hard lot to find, too! You know, you'd think that with their size and all they'd be a lot easier to track down but-"

"Silence! And?" The man chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, yeah. And we got the tool, too. A few of them, actually. I didn't think that more than one existed, but you'd be surprised at what you can find after a little bit of pencil pushing. Into the right skin, of course. Plus we even found some guy who knew how to use them properly, so we have him here, too." The figure nodded.

"Excellent. I know just where we can use him. Take the rest to the place, but leave the man and one of each thing. Send him to East Blue; we have a dumbass Fleet Admiral we need to satisfy." The man nodded.

"Sure. Where, exactly? And by thing you _do_ mean the-"

"You know what I mean!" The man held up his hands.

"Oi, oi. Just making sure. Now where do I send him? And in how many pieces? It depends, you know. Postage to the East Blue is getting expensive! We may be in the same ocean at the moment but a few islands away really adds up-"

"Dammit, just. **Shut. Up.**" The figure turned and glared at the man; even with the height difference, there was still a bit of fear in the taller man's eyes as he pulled back. "Good. Now then, according to the file provided, their swordsman is from a small dojo just outside of Shimotsuki Village. Find it. Send him. I want them attacked by tonight!"

"Hey, I noticed how you said 'attacked' instead of 'dead.' Do you really think that they'd be able to stand up to a full-grown d-"

"This is the crew of the Pirate King we are talking about. In this world, underestimating them has been the key to their survival. Do not make the same mistake."

* * *

"Missing, you say? Both of them??" The man nodded from his kneeling position.

"Yes, we first assigned him to investigate some breaches on the main barrier, but he disappeared when we sensed the other tear close up. We've been unable to contact him since." Another man sighed wearily from his pedestal in front.

"And her?"

"She went to investigate an unauthorized opening on the time scale a few days later, but then vanished. It is unknown if she went after him or was captured herself." Another sigh.

"Always causing trouble, she is. But… She does always turn up eventually. Just keep an eye on the main barrier, and trust that she'll turn up." The man bowed.

"Yes, sir. It's been left alone since the first breach, but we'll double the guard just in case." He turned and left.

* * *

Oh dear. I seem to be pushing some boundaries here. JUST WAIT TILL THE NEXT CHAPTER… Seriously. I think I'm really pushing it. Oh boy.

Yes, this chapter was short. Yes, they practically teleported to the dojo. But there isn't much you can put in between with nothing but rolling hills of grass. At least in the desert there were sand creatures; now there's just… grass. Boo. I could have filled it with a bunch of boring dialogue, so at least there's that? I really just needed to get on with the story.

Urg, the whole Zoro thing kind of ended on a sour note. But you have to feel bad for Zoro. And Sanji, too, I guess. He only has that crotchety old man waiting for him. Usopp's got a lady. Franky's got lots of ladies. Ko is the name of my old exchange student's nephew, most adorable little baby you ever saw. Not exactly important, but who cares?

Funny story, see I was looking at a bunch of books the other day and I came across Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. The story of quote unquote "Ace detective, snappy dresser, razor-tongued wit, crackerjack sorcerer, _and_ walking, talking, fire-throwing skeleton." Yes, I lol'd immediately at that. The writing style was somewhat similar to mine, though (I'm not sure if that's a compliment for me or an insult for the writer, probably both). I enjoyed the book. Also not important. I'm just stalling, aren't I?

I really don't do this for the reviews (if I did, I'd be working on Fenton Files instead for the fact that it has over 100 reviews in only 8 chapters and 14,000 words) but I still appreciate them! Also, I have all of your bad guy OCs and I love them! I'm actually using one of them in the next arc (which was, in fact, somewhat relying on the fact that someone would submit a bad guy xD) plus I'm using one of your good guy OCs in it too. Can you guess? :P

A friend of mine loves the pairings SaNa and ZoVi. Personally, I can somewhat see the whole SaNa, even if I like LuNa and ZoNa better. Even a little UsoNa makes me happy. But I don't really see the ZoVi, so would you explain to me what you see in the pairing? I'm not being patronizing, I'm honestly curious. I'm asking you ZoVi fans to go off on a tangent! But don't you dare answer with a 'Thare, liek, TTLY cute together~333' I _will_ bang my head against something solid, I swear!

In the words of SkieLoon, ROOTBEER AND ROCK! That means read and review. …But you already read it, didn't you? Oh well. SkieLoon owns those words, just so you know. Not me.


	12. Dragons

I'm seriously considering just switching my update days to Saturday. They're so much more convenient for me… I'm going to be pretty busy this weekend, so I need to post this today instead of tomorrow. Sorry! Sort of…

Over fifty reviews for this story! That makes this the second-most-reviewed story I've written! Sort of. Around the latest chapters of Fenton Files it literally turned into my beta writing the story herself… =.=;; If I ever ask you guys to do anything similar, I give you full permission to slap me with a fish. A tuna, if need be. That's probably why I stopped having betas… The point is, I didn't really write the story at all. So this is my most reviewed! YAY! :DDD

Another ten thousand word chapter! And this time, the AN is less than a thousand words! HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!?! ***dies***

For those of you who looked at the title and thought 'Ha. Linhae's such a funny person. She probably means something like a dragon attacking style or some 'heart of the dragon' crap.' Yeah, well… I'd just like to remind you that technically dragons _are_ canon in the One Piece universe, (**not** referring to the anime filler) they've just been extinct for hundreds of years. Or something like that.

Let me just say this: Fight Scenes. The utter bane of my existence. Especially between a group and a monster. But I'm trying to improve, so make sure to give me some tips about how I can!

**WARNING**: This chapter somewhat requires knowledge of Oda-sensei's other work 'Monsters,' from his WANTED! oneshot collection. The story of Ryuuma, you know? I'm taking that story way out of context, yes. But this is fanfiction, right?? I CAN DO THAT YOU JERKS. Sort of. :D It's okay if you haven't read it; you'll just be mildly confused throughout the entire thing. But I recommend you read it anyway. It's pretty superior yo.

All this week I had STAR testing, so I only managed to read one good length story that inspired me. 'Hanley' by NibelungVelocity is absolutely amazing. The story of how Amano Hanley, a ten-year-old that knows next-to-nothing about the world of One Piece, is transported into the water near Shanks' ship. Rescued and brought to the nearby village of Fuchsia, Hanley meets a seven-year-old Monkey D. Luffy and stays with Makino. Together the two grow up on Dawn Island with Ace as Hanley strives towards the ultimate goal of returning home. Discovering an odd heritage that has something to do with the odd scales growing on her, Hanley finds an odd teacher from a former Ciphor Pol group… Ten years later, all hell breaks loose when Hanley and Luffy take on the world in a little rowboat. This is a truly unique take on the whole fall into One Piece cliché that _must_ be read by all fans of the idea! And even those who don't like it! (but really, would you be _here_ if you didn't like it?)

This week, it's a nice, simple 'I don't own One Piece, Monsters, or Pokémon.' Easy as pie. Sort of. It depends on the pie… :D

* * *

"**It never does to leave a live Dragon out of the equation."**

**~J. R. R. Tolkien**

"What was your daughter like, Koshiro-san?" They were all sitting in odd (and somewhat uncomfortable) positions on little cushions, and Koshiro was serving them tea as they waited for Zoro's return. Pika and Chopper had a bit of trouble copying the positions, but now it seemed as though they were stuck, much to their horror. Koshiro sat on his own cushion with a practiced ease and sipped his own tea before answering.

"My daughter, Kuina, was a skilled swordfighter. She was also the one person Zoro could never beat, though they fought exactly two thousand times. Zoro trained every day to beat her, and they fought every day as well. That was back when Zoro only used two swords." There was a bit of a pause as Koshiro reflected.

"Kuina was… strong. But she was also very young, and I knew that as she grew, she would likely be discouraged about her dwindling strength. I warned her often, and yet she always wanted to become the Greatest Swordsman in the World. A dream she shared with Zoro. There was an incident, the night after Zoro's two thousandth loss, which I heard about from a few of the students later.

"Zoro challenged Kuina with real swords, instead of the customary bokken. They went out to a nearby field and fought, Kuina with our family's Meitou, Wado Ichimonji. Zoro lost. A few students (apparently curious if they had killed each other) watched as the two made a promise that they would both fight for their dream, and that one of them would surely win the title." The crew reflected on the story a bit; Lin had heard it before, but it was interesting to watch the crew's reactions. Robin then asked

"What happened then?"

"Kuina died the next day." There was a stunned silence. "A simple fall down the stairs, a broken neck. For all of her strength and pride and ambitions, she was still very fragile. You can imagine the impact her death had on Zoro." Even Franky was strangely silent, although his face looked similar to a broken sink. Lin looked around a bit before noticing a familiar photo on a nearby table.

"Is that her?" She pointed. Koshiro nodded, unfolding himself and walking over to the picture. Sanji looked at the photo and stared.

"Robin-chan, doesn't that seem familiar…?" Robin nodded.

"It appears to be an exact copy of the marine that accompanies Smoker." Usopp blinked.

"The one that Zoro always runs from? Her?" He peered a bit closer at the portrait. "Wow. Creepy resemblance…" Robin explained at the confused look on Koshiro's face.

"There's a certain marine that bears an uncanny resemblance to your daughter. Zoro is often unnerved at her presence." Nami snorted.

"Unnerved in a way that he runs at the very sight of her. She always chases him yelling about him being some sort of sexist." Koshiro blinked. Any response was cut off when a small giggle sounded through the door. A hand sprouted near the door and slid it open immediately, and a few small children fell into the room. Lin blinked rapidly as they immediately straightened up. One of them stepped forward.

"Sensei! There's another man here! He says he's here for the Pirate King!" Luffy perked up.

"Eh? A visitor? Does he have meat??" Nami bonked the back of his head.

"Idiot. He's obviously some sort of bounty hunter!" Luffy rubbed the back of his head and blinked.

"Ohhh, he wants a fight? Why didn't you say so? Yosh! Let's go see if he has any meat!" Luffy grinned and immediately ran out the door. Koshiro stared after him.

"Is he…?" Nami sighed.

"Yes, he's dead serious. He's really going to see if the man has any meat. He's going to piss off the man by not caring about any threats against his life. The man will go overboard, and I'd like to apologize in advance for any property damage if he's a real threat." She sighed, standing. "Come on guys, let's follow."

Chopper and Pika had quite a bit of trouble standing again; Lin ended up carrying Pika and Chopper simply reverted to his Walk Point. Koshiro followed them as they all crowded at the front of the dojo where Luffy was standing with a blank expression, ordering his students to stay inside.

On top of the hill, the man was waiting for them. They couldn't make out his features due to the distance, but the man immediately began shouting down to them.

"MUGIWARA!!!" Luffy didn't even bother answering. He turned to the crew.

"I kept answering him the first few times, but then he kept saying it over and over. He's pretty stupid." The crew blinked as the man shouted a few more times, then began running down the hill to meet them. He ran in front of the crew and panted a bit as the crew regarded him curiously.

He certainly was odd looking enough, with a thick stature and an interesting mass of hair on his head arranged in a peculiar way that reminded Lin of a curly version of Zoro's. He had a look on his face that practically screamed 'bad guy' with thin lips in a wide superior smirk. The man's oddest feature was the letters 'D' and 'R' tattooed around his eyes, which seemed to ring quite a few warning bells in Lin's head at how familiar it looked. But Lin had to give him points for the cape he was wearing; she did so love capes. Even if there was a suspicious bulge inside said cape that made Lin's head practically scream that something really, _really _bad was going to happen. The man finally recovered and pointed at the crew dramatically.

"Where is the Mugiwara??" Luffy stepped forward.

"That's me; how many times do I have to tell you?? Are you stupid or something?" The man blinked rapidly.

"… _You're_ the so-called Pirate King?? Pfft. And here I was told you were some sort of threat around here." Robin blinked oddly at him.

"D. R., correct?" The man straightened.

"Yeah, that's me. Who the hell are you?" Lin blinked.

"Robin, you know him?" Robin shook her head.

"Not exactly. He actually died years ago; slain by a certain Pirate Hunter, I believe*." There was a bit of a blinking fest at this statement, which Usopp broke soon after.

"GHOOOOOOOOST!!!!" He cried, immediately ducking behind Sanji. Chopper joined him shortly, the both of them shaking hard enough that Sanji began to get annoyed. He struggled to push them away as the man continued.

"I don't know what idiot told you that, but I assure you that I am most alive! I've been told I need to come for your head, Mugiwara; and I was told to use this." He pulled the bulge from his cape and the crew stared at him for a moment. It was a small, black horn. Lin stared a bit before her brain fit together the pieces and she paled greatly.

"Oh, shit…" The crew looked at her curiously. Nami asked.

"Do you know what that is, Lin?" Lin began trembling at the confident smirk on the man's face as Robin seemed to understand. She also grew uneasy at the implications. The man cackled.

"At least some of you are aware! Behold: the Dragon Horn!" And he put the horn to his lips and blew; an odd ringing sound echoing as he pointed the horn to the sky.

* * *

Zoro sat in front of the grave, Wado resting on his lap as he contemplated his goal. How would she have reacted to him keeping their promise? Of course he knew the answer; she would have challenged him. But would she have won? In Zoro's mind, the fact that Kuina had always beaten him signified that she would forever be the greater of them. Even if he grew increasingly stronger, what would she have done?

She would have gotten stronger as well. She would have realized the threat and would have neutralized it. She would have stood over him in her triumph and laughed at his misery. Kuina would always be stronger; if only because of the fact that there was no way to prove otherwise.

Zoro sighed as he stood up. He'd been sitting there with such morbid thoughts for almost an hour. No regrets; just move on forward. Wasn't that what he lived by? It was unnatural for him to be like this. He needed a good stiff drink. He blinked as an odd sound echoed throughout the graveyard. It sounded somewhat like a cicada… But also like an instrument**? He paused and cocked his head to the side as the sound faded away to the nearby hills…

And was answered with a roar. A deep, ferocious roar that made the hair on the back of Zoro's neck prickle slightly. He glanced up and looked in the distance as a small dot came closer. Zoro was a guy that after such travels and sights he had seen and experienced was rarely affected by anything. But even he couldn't help but stare incredulously at the sight of a gigantic dragon flying towards him at a rapid speed.

It looked about the length of the snake on Skypiea, and was flying at a speed that he really had to appreciate. It soared over his head, and he broke out of his stupor in time to notice that it was flying directly towards the dojo just in the distance.

He began running towards the dojo, pulling out a single sword after securing his bandanna to his head. He glanced at Shuusui*** as he pulled it out, smirking.

"I think this is just up your alley."

* * *

Usopp nearly fainted when the roar sounded off. He began clinging to Sanji in his terror, Chopper clinging to his head. "W-What the hell was that??" He screeched. Nami looked over at Lin who was staring at the man standing with a confident air.

"What is that thing??"

"A Dragon Horn, a rare artifact that was lost hundreds of years ago." Robin answered. She stood back a bit with a look of utter unease, a look that seemed out of place on someone like her. Brooke shook as the roar faded away.

"What did these Dragon Horns do exactly, Robin-san?" Robin said nothing, only looked into the sky as a shadow blotted out the sun from where they were standing. Lin answered as she stared above her, eyes wide, clutching Pika tightly and almost suffocating her again.

"They were used to call dragons." The dragon roared again as it hovered in the sky above the dojo; if it landed it would have crushed a good portion of the building. The man in front of them cackled.

"That's right! Now taste his power… While I get away. So long!" He turned and fled, playing a few more commands out as he ran. Luffy immediately chased after him.

"Hey! Get back here you stupid ghost!" Nami immediately began yelling as the dragon tilted its wings slightly, sending itself down to them.

"**DON'T LEAVE US ALONE WITH THIS THING!!!**" Lin began yelling as well.

"Make sure you get that Horn!!" Nami immediately rounded on Lin.

"Don't encourage him!!" Lin snapped back.

"Excuse me for not wanting to chance that even if we do manage to defeat this dragon, he may have more to call! That Horn is the only thing making them listen to him!" Nami growled.

"How would _you_ know anyway-?"

"LOOK OUT!!!" Brooke threw himself forward and pulled Lin and Nami out of the way of where the dragon landed. Lin eeped as the dragon turned to glare at the three, Pika completely unconscious. Sanji immediately kicked the dragon's head in an upper kick.

"**Anti-manner kick course!**" The dragon's head snapped back, and it backed away a few paces. The kick seemed to snap the rest of the crew out of their trances, and they immediately went to action. Brooke rushed forward, clutching at his cane.

"Tally ho~!" Giving a great leap, he ran up the dragon's neck as it reared up, then jumped off just as it shook its head. Looking back, he would have smirked (although he had no face) as long, shallow slashes appeared on the dragon's neck where he ran. "Hanauta Sanchou: Yahazu Giri." The dragon snarled in pain as Brooke began humming to himself. "I must say, cutting that skin is like cutting diamonds!" Chopper popped a Rumble Ball into his mouth as he ran forward.

"RUMBLE: Jumping Point!" Chopper transformed into his long-legged form as the dragon clawed the ground where he had just been moments before. He transformed again as he came up to its neck. "Arm Point! KOKUTEI CROSS!!" Chopper threw back his massive arms and threw them forward in a strong thrust, leaving a slight impression of a giant 'X', gagging the dragon. He immediately turned into guard point as a paw slammed down on him. "I see what you mean! This guy's tough!"

Lin watched with wide eyes as the dragon reared up, barely affected by the crew's attacks. It opened its mouth and sucked in air in a way Lin had seen many times on movies, flames gathering in the back of its mouth. Robin crossed her arms.

"Ochenta Fleur: Cuatro Manos." Four giant arms made of eighty smaller arms sprouted on each side of the dragon's open mouth. They clutched each other and pounded the dragon's mouth shut just as it was about to fire. "Shock."

The dragon's eyes widened as the blast went off in its mouth and it immediately backed away, slicing at the hands with its claws just as they disappeared. Its eyes narrowed as it recovered and it charged forward. Koshiro ran forward with his own sword drawn.

"HAAAAAAAAAA!!!" He cried as he thrust his sword vertically, creating a giant slash up the dragon's neck. The dragon roared and flung his head sideways, flinging Koshiro back towards the group.

Chopper immediately jumped forward and turned into his Arm Point. "KOKUTEI DIA-" A paw slammed him into the ground, and he lay still.

"Chopper!" Usopp yelled. He pulled out Kabuto and aimed at the dragon's head. "Eat this! **Hi no Tori Boshi!**" Usopp's projectile burst into flame and formed into a massive phoenix, flying towards the dragon at high speed… Which the dragon simply opened its mouth and ate. Usopp's eyes bugged out. Sanji flew forward and tackled Usopp out of the way as the dragon snapped its mouth at him. Sanji growled.

"Usopp! You baka! It's a shitty dragon!" Usopp defended himself in a huff.

"Haven't you ever heard of fighting fire with fire?" Meanwhile Franky grabbed Chopper from under the dragon, taking him over to Lin and Nami. Nami held Chopper and ran to the dojo with Lin, who was still carrying Pika. Franky followed and stood by the door.

"Stay here until we finish. I doubt any of your electric attacks are going to harm him, Nami-sis." Nami nodded as he shut the door and rushed back into the battle. Lin scowled a bit at not even being considered, but she wasn't stupid. She'd only get in the way. The group of kids crowded at the front windows, watching the battle in awe.

"A dragon! A real dragon!"

"Sensei! He's hurt!"

"But did you see that slash?? And what that tanuki did too! They're all so strong…"

"Where's that other scary guy?? He's supposed to be the second strongest!"

"The captain ran off…"Lin sighed.

"Just like movie day at Sunday school." She muttered to herself. She noticed some suspicious movement out of the corner of her eye. "You there!" A little boy froze. He was attempting to climb out the window. "What on earth do you think you're doing??" The boy scowled up at Lin.

"You aren't the boss of me! I need to help my Sensei!" Lin glared right back.

"Your Sensei can take care of himself. Now then, what do you know about dragons? Their weaknesses? Their abilities? Let me tell you guys all about them, and then you can go crazy, deal?" The boy nodded. Nami looked at Lin curiously.

"What are you doing?" She hissed. Lin whispered back.

"Just watch." Turning back to the kids, she continued. "Right. See, dragons are the ultimate fighters. They're specifically designed to kill every single one of their opponents with a single bat of the eye. And that's against warriors. But before I continue, what do you guys know about fighting?" There was a bit of an awkward silence. Another boy spoke up.

"We can use swords!" Lin nodded professionally.

"Oh, in that case I'm completely wrong. You've all used real katana and obviously know more than the strongest crew in the entire world. The crew that, might I remind you, actually went around the world fighting for that title. The. Entire. World." Lin met each and every one of their eyes. "Now are you going to grow up, or are you going to get yourselves killed?" Lin waited for their response with her fingers crossed; hopefully they were a bit more mature than the kids she knew back home…

The boy sighed, coming back and joining the rest of the students. "I'll stay behind…" Lin sighed in relief.

"Good! Now don't you worry about your Sensei! He's fighting with the crew of the Pirate King, right?"

"Right!"

"And that in itself is a great honor! Are you going to dishonor your Sensei??"

"Never!"

"Then sit back on your bums and be filled with pride for him!" The kids all saluted and sat down immediately. Nami blinked as they sat with stony expressions.

"You certainly have a way with kids…" Lin shrugged.

"These kids are actually much better than what I used to deal with. Much less bratty. Now then," she turned to the nearest kid. "You!" He stood immediately. "Your name?"

"Uta, Ojou-san!"

"Uta, I need a hug!"

"…… Eh?" But he went over and hugged Lin anyway, much to her delight. Nami sweat dropped.

"I think I'll just put Chopper and Pika down now…" She turned and walked away slowly as Lin nearly squeezed the life out of the poor child.

* * *

Sanji snarled to himself. This wasn't going well, at all. They were all top fighters, yes. But only professional swordsmen were meant to fight dragons, not melee fighters like himself and Franky. Shitty dragons were designed against that, what with their rock-hard skin and bulky bodies. Brooke himself had yet to learn how to properly slice through different surfaces without using all of his strength, and Koshiro was out of commission after a lucky shot from the dragon.

That left only him, Franky, Brooke, Robin, and Usopp to fight. And they were having just as much luck.

The dragon was apparently bullet-proof and explosion-proof. It was also far too big and bulky to knock over, like Sanji would usually do with large enemies. So until their other swordsman appeared, they were like regular humans attempting to attack a brick wall.

And we regular humans know how **that** works out. Quite painfully, in fact.

Brooke nearly collapsed from exhaustion near Koshiro. "I'm all out of breath! Although I have no lungs… SKULL JOKE!!! … Oh…" He attempted a wheezy laugh as he fell backwards. Franky looked back and shook his head sadly.

"That first attack must have sapped his strength. Come on!" He turned back to the dragon as it roared again. Pulling out his connector, he attached it to his arms.

"COUP DE VENT!!!" With a loud '**boom**,' a shot of compressed air flew at the dragon and sent it skidding backwards. Franky's hair drooped as the dragon recovered. "Damn! I'm all out of cola! Later cook-bro!" Franky joined Brooke and Koshiro in their little corner. "Sup?"

"I appear to be all out of wind…"

"Leg broken. Unable to stand properly." Franky and Brooke turned to Koshiro as he sighed heavily. "It's been far too long since I last fought. I'd forgotten how much it hurts once you stop."

Sanji glared back at the corner where the three were sitting. "Well then, that just leaves me, Robin-chan, and Us…" Usopp was laying a few feet away from the corner, ketchup all over him. "…Just me and Robin-chan." His eyes turned into hearts.

"ROBIN-CHWAN~!!! Allow your knight to slay this dragon!!" Sanji immediately dashed forward and leaped…

And the dragon simply slammed a paw down on him. The dragon turned to glare at Robin as she stood alone. Robin simply summoned her arms to carry Sanji out of the way and into the corner. Franky sighed as he looked him over.

"If only the little Reindeer-bro were here… He'd have a fit." Koshiro blinked.

"The reindeer? He's the doctor?" There were two nods. "… Interesting."

"Well then." Brooke and Franky stood again, Franky pulling out some emergency cola and sliding them into his fridge. Brooke took out his sword.

"Onward, Franky-san! Yohohoho~!" The two sprang back into action. Usopp soon joined them. Koshiro shook his head in amazement.

"They never do give up…" He looked around to see that Sanji was missing as well. "Hm? Strong willed indeed… I can see why Zoro is with them."

The five stood in front of the dragon. Sanji took a deep puff on his cigarette. "Two minutes. He should be back by then, if anything." The group nodded. Sanji then began shouting. "Brooke!"

"On it, Sanji-san!" Brooke immediately ran up the length of the dragon's neck, irritating the previous wounds. The dragon roared and shook its head fiercely, attempting to rid itself of the pest. Meanwhile Franky and Usopp went behind the dragon, the distance between them roughly the width of the dragon itself. Sanji leaped into the air in front of the dragon's thrashing head.

"**Collier Shoot!**" He landed a good kick right where Koshiro had slashed the dragon, make him rear up, wings spread in pain. "Robin-chan, now!"

Robin crossed her arms. "Ochento Fleur: Cuatro Manos." Four giant hands appeared again, two of them pinning down its wings and the other two grasping the dragon by the neck. "Clutch." The hands bent the dragon at an awkward angle while it was still on its hind legs. Usopp shouted to Franky.

"Now Franky!"

"Gotcha! Strong Right!" Franky shot his arm to Usopp, who caught it and pulled, running along towards the dragon with Franky. "Sweep!!" Using the chain between them, they swept right through the dragon's hind legs, making it land on its back and wings. Sanji smirked.

"Right before Chopper was hit; he mentioned the dragon's weak spot." He explained to Koshiro. "Brooke!"

Brooke ran on the dragon's exposed belly and jumped off again. "Hanauta Sanchou: Yahazu Giri." He said to himself as the dragon exploded in blood. There were long, deep cuts right under its arms. "Much easier to cut through! … Eh??"

The dragon, apparently very, very pissed at the crew, then decided to stand. Swinging around with its tail, it knocked Brooke right into the hill, where his head stuck in the ground rather comically. As it completed its turn, its wings happened to clip Robin, sending her sliding away towards Koshiro.

"Robin-chan!" Sanji yelled. His eyes narrowed and he ran forward. "Why you-" The dragon snapped at Sanji, just missing him by an inch. He sprang into the air to the side, where his eye widened. "Shit." The dragon slammed a paw into him as before, but this time he ground Sanji into the ground. Franky and Usopp yelled.

"Sanji!!"

"**Ittoryu…**" Everyone conscious (and with their head out of the ground) looked up to see Zoro just above the dragon's head. He had one sword out and his other hand supporting his wrist. There was a dark aura around him, oddly enough in the shape of a dragon highly similar to the one below him. He brought down the sword in a single swipe, black and blue flames erupting from his sword. "**Hiryu Kaen!!!**"

* * *

Lin and Nami stood by the door. Nami muttered "It's gone quiet…" Lin blinked and listened.

"So… It's over?" Nami nodded.

"I think it is. But… You go check first." Lin blinked.

"… Why?"

"Because otherwise I'll increase your debt."

"… I don't remember that being in my contract…"

"Do it!"

"Fine, fine…" Lin grumbled to herself as she opened the door. She looked around then turned back. "Hey Nami, I think the dragon's-" She turned back just in time to see the dragon's head fall right in front of her, teeth still bared and eyes wide open.

Lin shrieked and fainted. Nami looked and was about to scream as well, until she noticed the key factor: the head was no longer attached to the body. The kids immediately swarmed around the head.

"Cool!!" Nami sighed, hefting Lin up and dragging her to the wall. She began slapping Lin's cheek.

"Wake up!" Lin blinked blearily.

"… Hm? … Did… Dra… Dragon, DRAGON!!" Lin jumped awake and stared at the dragon's head before coming to the same conclusion as Nami. "… Oh."

"Yes, 'oh.' You owe me more money for scaring me like that!!"

"Aw, come on!!"

* * *

Standing a few hills away from the dojo, two citizens of the nearby Shimotsuki stared at the scene with wide eyes. The first one opened and closed his mouth like a fish, before clearing his throat. "That was a dragon." His companion nodded. "A large dragon, might I add." Another nod, but the other appeared preoccupied. "As in a real dragon. Do you think anyone will believe us?"

"Yes."

"That was rhetorical, moron. Who's going to believe that we just saw the Pirate Hunter slay a real dragon??"

"The people who see this picture." The man froze, looking back at the other man. He looked into his hands, where a small camera was.

"You got a picture of Roronoa Zoro beheading the dragon?"

"A good one of when he was alive, too. That was something!"

"Well then, what are we waiting for?? We need to find a buyer! Come on!" And the two men raced back to town, whooping at the thought of how rich they would be with the series of pictures.

* * *

Lin and Nami walked outside in time to see Zoro and Sanji arguing.

"You shitty swordsman, what took you so long??"

"Well maybe if you idiots wouldn't stop moving I could find you faster!"

"You got _lost_ you mean! We were right in front of the dojo the entire time!"

"Like hell! I did **not**__get lost you damned eyebrow freak!"

"Masochistic marimo!"

"Stupid question!"

"Bottom-feeding algae!" Nami simply walked forward and they immediately stopped. She nodded.

"Good. There's hope for you yet. Now then…" She glared at Zoro. "What took you so long??"

"You guys wouldn't stop moving around!" Nami sighed and slapped her forehead.

"He got lost. Unbelievable." Lin turned back to see Chopper walking their way.

"What happened…? GAH!! SANJI!!!" Chopper immediately went into doctor mode as he noted that most of the crew had been heavily wounded. He paused a second to marvel at the fact that Zoro had not, in fact, been hurt at all, but then continued work on the rest of the Strawhats. Pika arrived and climbed on Lin's head.

"Pikachu…" She muttered sadly. Lin blinked.

"What's the matter now?" Pika pointed to the side, were the sad remains of a ketchup bottle were scattered all over. Pika's eyes teared up.

"Chu…" Lin winced and hurriedly held Pika closely.

"There, there. We'll find more ketchup soon. I promise!" She looked around. "Go ask Usopp for some! I think he's covered in it…" Usopp was indeed covered in ketchup, and Pika hastily scrambled after him.

Chopper had just finished bandaging the last of them when Luffy returned, holding up the Dragon Horn. "Hey guys! Look what I found! It's the mystery object!" He handed the Horn to Robin. "The ghost ran away though…"

"Ghost?" Zoro asked. Nami glared.

"One come back to haunt _you_, apparently. Does the name D.R. sound familiar?" Zoro shook his head.

"No." There was a bit of a falter.

"… 'No'?? HOW CAN YOU NOT REMEMBER WHO YOU KILLED???"

"People I kill tend to remain dead." Nami's mouth opened and closed a bit before she simply turned away. It was sound logic. Franky shook his head.

"Not much help there." Robin turned over the object in her hands.

"So this is a Dragon Horn…" Nami turned to Lin.

"So how do you know about them? They're from our history, not yours." Lin stiffened at the attention, before deciding to tell the truth.

… Well, she actually decided to tell a half-truth. Same difference.

"There's a story about a place called Wano from my world. It's the story of a samurai named Ryuuma the King, and how he killed a dragon. The dragon was summoned in the story by two other swordsmen, Shirano and D.R., who used the dragon as a cover to rob the town Ryuuma was in then destroy all the evidence. In order to call the dragon, they used an artifact which had been stolen ten years before the story took place called a Dragon Horn." Robin nodded.

"There's a similar story that is actually a part of our history. Perhaps our worlds are a bit more connected than we thought…" Lin almost giggled out loud at the truth in her statement. '_How little she knows._'

"If that's the case… Why didn't you warn us when he first appeared??" Nami yelled at Lin. Lin held up her hands in surrender.

"How was I supposed to know a storybook character was going to attack us?? How was I supposed to know it would be true in the first place?" Franky interrupted, exchanging a glance with Zoro.

"Hold up, Alien-sis. Ryuuma, you say? As in the samurai?" Lin nodded enthusiastically, a similar grin on her face of that when she was describing Batman.

"A master swordsman. He was so cool! He had this sword named Shuusui and he could slice anything! Even a copper statue! Come to think of it…" Lin muttered to herself. She looked at Zoro oddly, who was paying rapt attention at the mention of 'master swordsman.' "He looked a hell of a lot like you, Onigiri-sensei. Minus the green hair, of course." She peered at Zoro a bit more closely, making him distinctly annoyed.

"… What?"

"That's a really terrifying resemblance. Are you a descendant??"

"How should I know??"

"That would be so cool, you know that?? He wasn't called the King for nothing, you know!" Nami coughed.

"ANYWAY, Zoro's heritage aside, what do we do now?" There was an awkward silence. Robin finally broke it.

"It seems that history is coming back to haunt us. Why would people from different times and places be coming here so suddenly? There must be a connection somehow…" Robin trailed off as she looked at Lin thoughtfully. Lin squirmed a bit, unwilling to tell Robin that there _was_ a connection between their worlds, and that she was right on the mark. But that would require an explanation of the whole damned One Piece story, and that would just be plain awkward.

How would they react to the fact that there was a whole world that knew everything about them? How would they react to the fact that Lin herself had followed their stories with such zeal?

How would they like it if Lin told them to their faces that they weren't real, when all that she had to go by was that book in her backpack? The one that she couldn't decide whether to toss out to sea or attempt to hide forever. But maybe…

"… in… Lin… Lin. Lin!!" Lin blinked rapidly. Nami was waving a hand in her face, looking annoyed. Lin looked around, noting that most of the boys had gone off somewhere. Usopp was standing beside Nami, and they were both looking annoyed at something. Robin simply seemed bemused.

"… Eh?"

"You've been staring at nothing for over five minutes! I thought I told you to take proper care of Pika!" Lin looked over Usopp to notice something vital: Pika was clinging to his trousers and licking all over him. Usopp guffawed, but it didn't seem to be from mirth.

"I-it tickles…" Nami sighed.

"He's been doing that for a while, and we can't get Pika off without getting zapped." Lin nodded.

"That's what happens when you grab their tail. Either that or they bite you." Lin grabbed Pika by the bandanna and off of Usopp. Pika turned and blinked at Lin.

"Chu?"

"I told you to _ask_ him for some ketchup. Not rob him of it! He probably has a perfectly good excuse for being covered in it." Usopp coughed awkwardly. Lin continued "you can't just go scrambling on top of other people. Not everyone has a terrible case of hat hair in which a pikachu sitting on top of them would make no difference. Common courtesy, Pika. Common courtesy." Pika nodded mechanically as Lin continued on with her lecture. Nami, Robin, and Usopp watched as Lin continued, amused. Usopp blinked.

"She's like a mother when it comes to Pika…"

"Is that really such a bad thing, Long-nose-kun?"

"I guess not. But still; it's kind of creepy. She's only eighteen, right?" They nodded. Lin finally finished her lecture with

"And therefore people demand personal space, and most react violently to any such violations. If you do something like that again I will take any and all ketchup away from you, but this is just a warning! Plus I'll lecture you again, and that's a pain in the ass for both you and me, got it?" Pika nodded again. "Good. Now this is how you ask." She turned to Usopp. "Usopp, may Pika please have some ketchup?"

"Sure. I have some Ketchup Boshi that she can try." Lin grinned.

"Thank you." She turned to Pika with a raised eyebrow. "Are you taking notes?" Pika pulled out a notepad and scribbled something down, then gave her a thumbs up. "Where did that notepad… Ah, whatever." Lin simply shook her head. They were anime characters, after all. They could just _do_ things.

Usopp pulled some round red pellets out of his bag and handed them to Pika, who sniffed them curiously. Taking a cautionary lick of one, her eyes widened and she gave a quick "Pikachu" before making off with the rest in the blink of an eye. Nami gained a thoughtful (and ominously greedy) look as Usopp blinked rapidly.

"I think that meant thank you?"

"Most likely. For her sake, it was."

"And if it wasn't?"

"I can't prove it."

"Good point." Usopp nodded. Lin watched as Pika found a satisfactory spot to enjoy her ketchup and pulled out a pellet from heaven-knows-where, licking it in delight.

Lin would have to get someone to teach her that sometime. Maybe Brooke; he always seemed to pull his violin out of nowhere. Speaking of Brooke… Looking around for said skeleton, she noted his absence oddly. "Where'd Brooke go?" Nami pointed.

"The others are trying to get his head out of the hill. We got bored of watching you think so hard; luckily Robin told us you were only thinking before Chopper thought you were in some sort of coma." Lin turned a bit red; she tended to do that.

"Sorry." Nami looked at her curiously.

"What were you thinking about, anyway?" Lin blinked.

"Just… stuff. About … Um… where D.R. came from. If he's from another place too, does that mean there's a way for me to go back home? And I guess about who would be able to do something like that, too." They nodded.

"Yes, it's scary to think that someone would have that kind of power. And who would go to such lengths to do such a thing." The words seemed to strike a chord in Lin's memory.

"Didn't Shanks say something before we left…?"

"Oh, you mean about the government?"

"Yea, that. Is the World Government really that twisted?" There was a silence, and Lin felt as though she was entering a long-standing argument.

"… Yeah. There's a lot of stuff going on about real justice and such. Pirates and all that."

"Like cops and robbers?"

"Who?"

"Never mind. The point is: to what lengths would the World Government go for justice? Who's above them?" There was a longer silence. "If there's no one above them, then where's the balance? Who's to say that they've gone too far in something? A lot of wars are started about that kind of thing, you know." Robin looked at Lin oddly, who simply shook her head. "Agh, I need to stop thinking like that. It's none of my business; I'm still trying to get home, after all."

"And if you find your way home, Lin-san? What would you do then?" Lin seemed a bit stunned at the thought.

"…I'd go on living life I suppose. But what am I supposed to do besides look for home? You guys all have amazing ambitions, and you've accomplished them! And me… I just want to go home." There was another silence, and Lin berated herself for bringing up such an awkward topic. "Sorry. I'm a little out of it." Robin nodded.

"That's fine. I'm simply curious as to what you'd do about Captain-san when the time comes. He doesn't let his nakama leave so easily, you know." There was a bit of bemusement in her words, and Lin had to agree whole heartedly. But that was an interesting problem. Would Luffy let her leave?

No.

Never. But Lin would think about it when the time came. In the meantime, she'd just try to enjoy the ride as best she could.

* * *

Koshiro sat in front of the dojo as the reindeer checked over his leg. Apparently broken in two places, he had said. Quite an interesting feat, indeed, considering how there was no way for the creature to see the inside of his leg. But he was considered the greatest doctor of their time (although admitted a bit reluctantly by the government, he was still a pirate, after all.)

Turning he saw the rest of the pirates pulling on two long, bony legs sticking up from the ground. They were all shouting at each other, and Koshiro had to laugh a bit at how ridiculous they looked. The skeleton was shouting about there being dirt in his ears and he couldn't hear properly… which ended in a Skull Joke and a collective chorus of groans. Finally they managed with one last pull and set the dazed skeleton back on his feet.

After the commotion settled he looked over and noted Koshiro. Walking over, he politely nodded his head. "Koshiro-san. How is your leg?"

"Fine. Especially because I have such an amazing doctor. You're all an interesting crew, you know that? That captain sure has interesting tastes." Brooke laughed.

"Luffy-san sure is something else, indeed. If I remember correctly, Zoro-san was actually the first to join him. Many of us are still quite curious about what would make him do such a thing, when a Pirate Hunter would become a pirate." Koshiro nodded.

"I'll admit I was curious myself. But after meeting your captain, I can see what Zoro must have seen." At Brooke's curious look, he elaborated. "Many people in the East Blue are very hard on dreams, you see. Zoro had his dream of becoming the Greatest since he was small, and my daughter was the only other one with a dream of similar magnitudes. What would your captain say about becoming the Pirate King when you first met him?" Brooke thought back a bit.

"Luffy-san was always confident that he would do it. And he always said that it was for the adventure, and a promise to his idol. I was one of the later people to join, being about half-way through the Grand Line, but the other crew members from East Blue would tell me that he would always introduce himself as the man who would become the Pirate King, no matter how many would laugh at him." Koshiro nodded.

"That's what I thought. A promise, you say? Zoro was in his dream for similar reasons, as you know. Perhaps when he met someone with an even bigger dream than he, he felt a deep respect for him." Brooke tapped his chin thoughtfully as he processed his words.

"Zoro-san has always held Luffy-san in the highest regard, true. When you say that, many of his previous actions make so much sense…" Koshiro looked at him curiously, but the skeleton was lost in thought. Zoro had always been a mystery to Brooke, ever since he had seen his actions to Kuma on Thriller Bark. When Brooke had gotten to know the crew a bit more, he had been stunned to learn that Zoro pursued his dream with such single-minded ferocity. The more he knew Zoro, the more depth his actions held for Brooke. And he respected Luffy all the more.

Zoro was a man to be in awe of, and the fact that he was so loyal to a man like Luffy when he was clearly not some sort of mindless subordinate made Luffy seem all the more mysterious. It was mind-boggling to Brooke, and yet as time went on, even he felt the same sort of bond between the captain and crew. Every one of them _needed_ Luffy to become the Pirate King, especially when he worked so hard for theirs.

Brooke hummed to himself as he thought about their dreams. He was one of the last, wasn't he? To accomplish his dream. To meet Laboon. But he knew that Laboon was just over the horizon, and that each day was bringing him one step closer to their reunion. Luffy would see it through to the end, he was sure. Just like he always did.

* * *

It was after the students had gone to bed that the party began.

Koshiro wasn't a party person, and the thought of doing anything of the sort after hours had never crossed his mind. But Luffy had been adamant on the subject, and with the crew's counseling ("He's never going to give up.") he eventually caved. Besides, Luffy reasoned, they still needed to kenpai for their new nakama. If he wouldn't let them kenpai about Zoro's visit, wouldn't he at least allow them that? Koshiro was a gracious host indeed.

So Sanji had passed out the mugs of sake and Luffy held his own up in glee. "To our new nakama, Lin and her mystery mouse, Pika! Kenpai!" The crew clinked their glasses together, Pika being far too absorbed in her ketchup to take offense at the mouse jibe. Lin took a cautionary sip of her own keg before simply allowing herself to drink.

After all, what would one cup hurt?

… Twenty minutes later, Lin was a complete wreck. One cup had dissolved into five cups. Each either going into her mouth or spilling over her shirt. But by the time the crew realized Lin's horrid alcohol (Zoro knew, of course, but he instead decided to see what would happen) tolerance she had already downed her glasses and was staggering around. The crew also found out that there was something about Usopp's altered ketchup recipe (something to do with the odd dye mix and extra vinegar to make it seem more like blood) that had turned what would have been like a shot of rum to a human into a pure, non-diluted bottle of vodka. Pika could handle the rum-like affects when simply taking small licks of regular ketchup, but when Lin had stumbled and dropped two whole pellets of the Ketchup Boshi into Pika's mouth…

"Pika, I choose youuuuuu~! ***hic***" Lin cackled as she attempted to do Ash's 'V for Victory' pose as Pika defeated the enemy (a fallen log). The crew (who had found the drunkards to be quite entertaining) all sweat dropped. Even Luffy seemed put out by the blatant stupidity.

"Jeez, she barely has a fraction of Chopper's tolerance…" Usopp muttered to himself. Brooke seemed put out as Lin began singing a song about carting the carcass of a dead horse away. She had been switching from different songs for almost a full hour, each having some sort of nautical theme or about someone dying.

"I never took Lin-san to be a musical person." Even now that was questionable, seeing how her singing was more out of tune than her current mind set. Pika attempted to balance on her head and, after failing miserably, instead began singing along as Lin pulled Pika close and began waltzing with her. She had about as much success as a fork would and tripped over her own feet, sending her sprawling on top of Pika.

The crew shook their heads sadly at the display as Sanji cooked the dragon meat. Luffy had obviously declared the carcass to be quite edible, and most of the crew had found that the taste somewhat resembled the meat of dinosaurs, with a bit more of a flavorful kick. The rest had no idea what they were talking about, not having been there for Little Garden. Sanji attempted to offer some of the meat to Lin, who had taken in the throbbing heart-eye, love-struck tone, and had immediately cried "Pervert!" then lunged forward…

And attempted to strangle a nearby skinny tree. After a few impressive maneuvers (that all ended with a kick that made the boys uneasy at where her violence seemed to be directed) she eventually called for Pika to zap the 'damned shkinny pervert.' Pika, in her drunken stupor, instead zapped Lin (which would have been taken as some sort of twisted compliment had she been sober). Lin let out a loud 'grk' then gave up on punishing the tree. Eventually the crew became bored of them teetering around and returned to their meal.

"So, Luffy-san. Where are you heading next?" Koshiro asked. Luffy grinned.

"We're going to Syrup Village next, then the Baratie, then Cocoyashi, then Logue Town, then back to the Grand Line!" Koshiro paused in his eating.

"You're going back? Why?"

"We have some more nakama to pick up, and then we have to have more adventures with them!" Koshiro simply shook his head. Apparently the Pirate King truly was only into adventure, not that he hadn't believed Brooke (but really, when conversing with a living skeleton one tends to not generally believe anything of the universe is right.)

Meanwhile Lin and Pika were thoroughly enjoying their state of mind. Lin was attempting to balance Pika in one hand and repeatedly dropped her (not that Pika minded due to her own intoxication) as she staggered her way over to the decapitated head of the dragon. Lin paused, tilting her head as she took in the dragon. She pointed a finger dramatically.

"How do you feel about…" Here she looked from side to side conspiratorially. "…_Shtriped eels_?" She dissolved into a giggling fit, then continued. "I bet you'd ***hic* **run shcared at the shight of them ya shtupid lizard! Huuuuh… And ta think that he had a Dragon Horn… Shounded funny, didn't it?" Lin nodded to herself at her assessment of the artifact, then paused a bit thoughtfully as she took in the dragon's head again. She gasped.

"Well no wonder you lishened to him! ***hic*** You've got a bunsh of Horns on your head! Like a radio… Lemme get em off for you." Lin took the silence as some sort of consent and immediately scrambled on top of the dragon's head and pulled on the dragon's horns. Had she been sober, she would have been surprised at how easily they came off; but as it were, she was simply delighted at having a whole armful of the 'myshtery objects.'

Nami turned to see that Lin was doing something to the dragon's head and rolled her eyes. "What on earth is she doing now?" The crew turned curiously to see Lin tottering her way over to them, her arms full of something.

"Lookit! More myshtery objects!" Lin cried, holding one of the horns up. The crew blinked at noticing a whole armful of the dangerous objects. Nami turned to Robin.

"But you still…" Robin held up the Dragon Horn she had confiscated herself, staring at Lin in confusion.

"Lin-san, where did you get those?" Lin stared at Robin as though she was crazy.

"They're _Dragon_ Horns, aren't they?? I got them off Sparky's head! There were a whole bunsh of em!" Lin hiccupped and dropped the rest of them as she held up one for inspection. "And they're perfect for playing too…" Franky picked up one of the horns she had dropped and inspected it.

"Alien-sis is right. They're all hollowed out just like the original. Probably why they were so rare; they came off of a dragon's head!" Lin nodded (somewhat) professionally.

"Yeah! You could just hold one up to yer mouth and…" She held up the horn in her hand to her mouth as though to blow in it. When the crew simultaneously cried out "**NO**!" she paused and snorted.

"I ain't shtupid! They take yeaaaaaaars to learn to play!" Lin threw the horn to the ground in frustration. "Damned buggersh." The crew sighed in relief. Franky quietly gathered up the rest of the Dragon Horns and handed them to Robin. Lin snapped her fingers in realization.

"Oh! This reminds me of a song! We're _pirates_, aren't we?? Well, there's a song about _pirates_ by Captain Jack Shparrow! He sings it like…" Lin began walking towards the crew as she was talking, but then tripped over some random rock and collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The crew sighed in relief while Luffy seemed excited.

"A song about pirates?? We need her to sing it to us when she wakes up!" Nami shook her head.

"Luffy, I have the feeling that Lin singing is something that she'll only do when drunk. **And we are not letting Lin get drunk and/or singing ever again**!!" She finished, clunking Luffy over the head. Luffy pouted from his position, but let the matter go.

Meanwhile Pika held one of the horns Lin had dropped in confusion. She had been meaning to take it… where was it again? She thought about it a moment then shrugged to herself. Ketchup now, horn later. She instead stuffed the horn inside Lin's backpack and searched for any more ketchup pellets that the crew may have missed when confiscating them.

She never did find any, much to her depression.

* * *

Garp sat in Ripper's office with a confused frown. Coby was sitting by his side in another chair, fidgeting slightly.

"Garp-san, was that a real dragon?" Garp only shrugged. Garp had been enjoying some more of Rika's onigiri (the hell if he knew why he was the only one eating them) when a loud roar had echoed over the town. Looking up, the citizens and Coby were terrified to see a live dragon soaring above them, sailing inland at an amazing speed. What had confused Garp was his glimpse of a rider sitting on its back, playing some odd sort of device. They had already sent a word of warning to Shimotsuki, but…

Ripper opened the door and sat behind the desk. "I apologize for being late, Garp-san. But I just got off the phone with the newspaper of Shimotsuki… And there's something you may want to see." He handed a small stack of papers to Garp and Coby. "These were just faxed by the editor; they're the headline of tomorrow's paper." Coby stared at the pictures in shock.

The first was a picture of the dragon from earlier, attacking a small dojo with the Pirate King's crew gathered around it, most looking injured. It was an impressive picture, but the next two were the real eye-catchers.

The first was of Zoro hovering above the dragon's head, one sword out and positioned for a single swipe. There was a blurry aura around him (that had miraculously been captured by the camera) but if Coby squinted he could just make out the outline of a dragon around Zoro. There were also black and blue flames dancing around the edge of his sword, and a demonic grin on his bandanna-covered head. Coby shuddered, that was just like the Zoro he knew. The next picture was of the crew standing around the dragon's decapitated body, and the entire crew recovering.

Turning over the pictures, Coby found a clip of the story that was to be put in the paper.

**PIRATE KING'S FIRST MATE, RORONOA ZORO SLAYS DRAGON**

**Roronoa Zoro, known as the most recent Greatest Swordsman in the World, has been seen just outside of Shimotsuki Village in his childhood dojo with a fabled lizard. The dragon had attacked the dojo for reasons unknown, making many of the citizens question where the supposed legendary creature had come from.**

**Yet the real story is about when the Pirate Hunter-turned-pirate killed the dragon in a single stroke of the sword when the crew themselves were unable to defeat it (the Pirate King had been absent for some unfathomable reason.) Seen in this picture taken by a nearby citizen, Roronoa took on the terrifying image of a dragon himself when slaying the beast, making many once again shudder at the terrors of the demon hunter.**

**Where did this beast come from? Many rumors have been spread about this… (see Page 7)**

Garp laughed out loud from where he had been reading as Coby put down the paper. "Guahahaha!! That's my grandson! Only he would find such amazing nakama, eh Coby?" Coby couldn't be bothered to answer, as he was looking through the stack of papers almost frantically. Turning to Ripper, he asked

"Where's page seven??" Ripper blinked.

"I only got the front page…"

"Well, we need the rest! I need to see the rest… sir" Coby added meekly, suddenly remembering his manners. Ripper chuckled and walked out the door, returning a few minutes later with a stack of papers, fresh off the Mushi. Coby immediately tore through them and read eagerly.

"'Many wonder whether the World Government has actually succeeded with its rumored cloning experiments and created the likeness of a dragon, creating the perfect assassin.'" He read out loud, raising an eyebrow incredulously. "'Many also believe that the Pirate King had summoned the dragon himself, and when unable to control it instead had his crew defeat it.' Luffy-san would never do such a thing!" Coby shouted, nearly crumpling the paper in his frustration. Ripper nodded sadly.

"Remember that Mugiwara is a pirate; the government has us all believe that all pirates are bloodthirsty villains. Now that a lone kid and his nakama have defied them, there will be no end of grief for them." Garp, who had been silently reading the rest of the papers, suddenly glared hard at something he had read.

"'People now calling Roronoa Zoro the '_Dragon_ _Claw_'?? Are they **mad**??" Coby blinked.

"Well Garp-san, they can't leave Zoro-san with the same name as when he was a rookie pirate, after all-"

"Ripper! Get me that damned editor on the phone! He needs a cool name, like the Dragon Lord! Or maybe the Dragon King! Yeah… the Dragon King…" Garp rubbed his chin thoughtfully as Ripper handed him a Den Den Mushi.

"He's on the other line, sir."

"Good. Hello? Editor? This is Vice-Admiral Garp. I have a complaint about this story! What kind of retardation are you hoping to accomplish by Dragon Claw??" Coby and Ripper exchanged a glance as Garp argued with the editor.

"Is he…?" Coby nodded.

"I suppose Garp-san has a point. Zoro-san does need a cool name for his new poster, after all. They haven't gotten new ones yet, even if Luffy-san's become the Pirate King almost two weeks ago. Maybe they all need cool names…" Coby trailed off with a small sparkle in his eyes similar to that of Garp's. Two years of traveling with Garp is bad for your mental sanity, after all.

Ripper stared at the crazy marines. Were they serious?? Times like this, when fabled lizards were coming to life and attacking citizens, and they were worried about _bounty poster names_?? Ripper rubbed his forehead wearily.

Only a few more days, he told himself. And then the Mugiwaras would come and pick up their ship, and these two nutcases would leave his poor Shell Town alone. With minimal damage.

Until then, he needed coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

* * *

And thus the screwing with the universe begins… I noticed that in oneshots that were a few years after Raftel, the crew all had some sort of badass name. Well, I thought, there had to be some sort of story behind them, right? And BAM, this is Zoro's story. *cackles wickedly* I've only got names worked out for the East Blue members though… Silly me, I should think things out a bit more thoroughly. ;o;

But this is your chance! I need some cool, catchy, badass names for the rest of the group! If I get enough, I'll put them up on my profile and you can vote for your favorite! Remember: **I have names planned for Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, and Nami already. I need names for Franky, Brooke, Robin, and Chopper.** You already know two of them, now who will come next?? Actually, I'm keeping Usopp's name. So that makes three, right? Okay.

No, my favorite character isn't Ryuuma. He's high up there on my list, though. Zoro's my favorite **Strawhat** character. Paulie from Water 7 is my favorite **non-Strawhat** character! :D He's so badass! Yet shy, too! Plus he's got rope! It's like string, but manlier! xDDD … Yes, I'm turning 17 in a few weeks and I'm still fascinated by string. Go me.

* I was looking through the manga and I noticed that there was actually a wanted poster of a D. R. on Fullbody's ship. It was crossed out though, and therefore we have reason to believe he died. Who else would kill him but the man roaming around and calling himself the Pirate Hunter at the time? My excuse for him coming back? That isn't the same D.R., because the one from Luffy's time wouldn't know how to control a Dragon Horn. How? Youuuu'll seeeeee…

**I kept trying to think of what a Dragon Horn would sound like, because when I looked at the manga I translated the sound effects to be 'Piiiiiiiiiiiii.' When I was in Japan a few years ago there were these bugs that sounded similar to that. Cicadas, as I believe they were called.

***Remember, Shuusui was obtained from Ryuuma. The legendary Ryuuma that had slain the dragon that D.R. called in Monsters. Shuusui was the sword used. Just making sure you guys understand. I do realize that usually Zoro uses Wado when performing Ittoryu, but this is a special case. :D

Please review! They make me feel better, and I need to improve! I can't improve without your input, silly!

~Linhae

PS: Don't try the whole little kid motivational speech. **In America, this never works. Don't even bother trying it, I mean it!** It may work in Japan, where the kids are so well-behaved, but not here. Unless you have an angel child, but then you wouldn't need this kind of tactic in the first place, would you? :P


	13. Birds

Another Saturday update. It's not official, but I think Saturdays just work out great. But this is indeed a short chapter, a short chapter indeed… D:

Ha, birds. xDDD They amuse me so… This week I realized that while Smoker and Tashigi won't have any major confrontations for a bit in this story, I should probably have them at least shown so people don't assume that I've forgotten them. And where else could I put Tashigi than Zoro's dojo?! *cackles* Poor Koshiro…

But then I realized that I didn't know Smoker or Tashigi very well. So I went and rekindled my old ZoTa (ZoroxTashigi) interest and found 'Shadowing' by angelicyokai. Then I went and read 'The Grand Line According To Mel' by Adverbabulations.

'Shadowing' is a really amazing story of how both Smoker's and Luffy's crew both get stuck in the same port without the other knowing it. Tashigi, however, quickly finds out that Roronoa Zoro is there (her and her creepy obsessions…) and begins following him around to find out what the Straw Hats are up to. Not that she's _stalking_ Roronoa or anything. Of course not. Meanwhile Smoker uncovers an underground slave trade…

'The Grand Line According To Mel' is exactly that. The Grand Line according to Mel, short for nothing and absolutely psychotic. Another story I made a reference to back in chapter three, of the very beginning of Luffy's story in the eyes of Mel, and not-at-all sane girl that was simply minding her own business when the new One Piece book she had recently acquired up and decided to _eat_ her! Following the twists of Fem!Zoro, random rocks (which have appeared more than once in my story just to trip up random characters), and Jack Sparrow dreadlocks, you guys _must_ read this story! I say that about every story I recommend, _because I recommend them for a bloody good reason_. That is all.

Ho boy, here come da spoilerz…

**WHAT. THE. HELL. DADAN'S A FLIPPING **_**WOMAN. **_JEEZ, Garp! Luffy and Ace were raised by _criminals_ and expected to want to become _marines_?? Oh well, it doesn't exactly kill anything I've said about her in the past chapters… Dadan would still scare the hell out of any mountain bandits enough for her to have been considered to chase them off. :D And I was right in my silly little guesses about Luffy! Luffy apparently _didn't_ live in the village for ten years! He _did_ live in the mountains! I FEEL SO COOL. :BBB

And Ace! He was such an emo kid… spitting on chibi-angry-monkey-faced Luffy like that when he didn't even know him! xD You'd think Garp would have just a _little _more common sense on who raised his grandkids if he was so worried about what they would do when they grew up. Dadan, an apparent wanted _criminal_, **that is only raising said emo and chibi-angry-monkey-faced children so that she wouldn't go to jail **seems like FAILED logic to me. But I digress…

Disclaimer time!

You! There! With the face! Read this carefully!

I do not own One Piece! Or Pokémon! Or Fei! Got it _memorized_??

* * *

"**Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."**

**~Albert Einstein**

Lin groaned as a faint light penetrated her eyelids. Without opening her eyes, she quickly assessed that she was sprawled on the ground, cuddling something tightly. She gave the object an experimental squeeze, noting with interest the tiny jolt that resulted from such.

Apparently she was cuddling Pika. There was a noise that was steadily growing louder, although it sounded like gibberish to Lin. Pika gave a little whimper, and then pressed herself against Lin a bit closer. Lin finally began to open her eyes, wincing at the light. She looked up and blinked blearily.

"… What?" Nami was standing above her, a somewhat sympathetic expression on her face. Lin thought she also saw a bit of disapproval. Nami opened her mouth again, making more garbled noises that were most likely mean to be words.

"… Tish inst yuor fsrit hnvegaor ifs ift? Offt asll thfe pleope…" Lin blinked stupidly as she continued.

"… Nami…" Nami paused. "… Don' speak Chinese." Nami slapped her hand to her forehead.

"Why did you drink??" Lin shrugged as the words processed.

"Dunno. Thought told someone 'bout crappy tolerance…"

"Yes, you apparently told Zoro. The same Zoro who laughed his ass off when you first started stumbling around, _then_ decided to tell us."

"… Tell us what?" Lin simply was unable to take in the information all at once. She thought that she heard Nami groan in frustration, but ignored it as she looked around.

Lin was in front of the remains of an old cook fire, Pika clinging to her and whimpering in her own hangover. There were various scorch marks around them (particularly directed against some log nearby) and a small tree that looked especially abused.

For some reason, Lin felt as though the tree deserved it.

Lin wearily sat herself up and looked around after recovering from the vertigo. Judging by what little light was in the sky (any brighter and she might hiss at the sun like some deranged vampire) the sun was just rising, and there were noises of children waking up for the day coming from the dojo. Lin put a hand on her aching head, adjusting her hat out of habit… and then she gave a loud gasp and whirled to look at Nami.

"Nami, I have a hangover!" Nami simply sighed.

"I've been trying to tell you that for a while now. We need to head back to the Thousand Sunny before any more freaks come after us with mythical beings in tow." Lin blinked.

"… Sunny? As in… walking?" Lin barely stumbled to her feet, then attempted a step and fell flat on her face, startling Pika.

"… Pika…"

"Nami-saaaaan~! We're all packed like you said!!" Sanji noodled his way over to the girls, where Lin was still picking herself up. "Ah, Lin-chan! What's the matter?? Do you need me to carry you?" Lin's eye twitched.

"For some reason, I feel the need to strangle something at that voice…" Pika flipped herself over and agreed whole heartedly.

* * *

Koshiro and Zoro stood on the hill as the rest of the crew gathered up their things. Chopper had been a life saver, immediately providing both Lin and Pika with medicine that greatly toned down the hangover effects. He had modestly waved away their praise (Creeps! Like that'll make me happy! ***giggle***) but Lin inwardly decided to herself to dote upon the small doctor at whatever chance she could. That hangover had hurt like hell.

So now she was only left with a small headache that Chopper had said would last as long as a regular hangover. Pika had gotten off easier with no side effects at all, even if she had only gotten half of a normal dose.

Koshiro stood beside Zoro as they watched the crew. "You've found good nakama, Zoro." Zoro simply nodded. "I can tell that you care for them. They must be a good lot."

"They're all idiots… But they're still nakama." Zoro shrugged slightly. He then unstrapped Wado Ichimonji from his side and faced Koshiro. "I've accomplished my dream by this sword; her sword. I can never thank you enough for acceding to my request all those years ago… But this is your family's Meitou, isn't it?" Koshiro nodded slowly.

"How did you find out?"

"There was a certain marine that wouldn't stop chasing me around. She's apparently on a quest to retrieve the world's Meitou, and immediately accused me of stealing it." Koshiro chuckled slightly.

"Your friends told me about that marine, Tashigi. Bearing Kuina's face and her words. I can only imagine ever meeting her." Zoro was silent as Koshiro continued. "But I knew exactly what I was doing when I gave you that sword, Zoro. It is yours by all rights now, and I know you will treat it with as much reverence as my family could ever hope to accomplish. It is my inheritance to you, as I no longer have any more family." Zoro simply strapped the sword back to its original place as Koshiro sighed in remembrance.

"Thank you, Sensei." Koshiro shook his head.

"No, Zoro. You have far surpassed me, and any other swordsman in the world! You no longer have a sensei, but merely an old friend." Koshiro clapped Zoro on the shoulder before turning back to his dojo, hobbling on the crutches that the carpenter had graciously provided for him. "I wish you well, Zoro. May you and your nakama continue to change the world."

* * *

They had just reached the edge of the forest and noted the road before Nami had groaned slightly about the long trip. This immediately had Sanji offering to carry Nami the entire trip, which ended quite painfully for him. Franky, however, was suddenly struck by an idea and had Brooke collect wood for him from the outer trees (Zoro would have leveled the entire forest.) When they had successfully dragged back enough wood to satisfy him, he immediately set to work and in seconds had completed a large wagon of sorts.

Franky threw his hammer in the air and struck a SUPER pose. "I call it the Battle Franky Wagon! All it needs is a good push and we'll be heading back to the Sunny as though we were flying!" He, Nami, Robin, and Sanji were all struck by the same idea at the same time and slowly turned to Usopp, who began edging away. He held up his hands.

"S-Sorry guys! I… don't have any charge in my Impact Dial! Yeah! And even if I found enough to power us, I'd snap my shoulder clean off!" This was promptly solved by Franky simply adding a little slot in the back for said Dial and a small mechanism to trigger it from inside of the wagon. Usopp was much more cooperative then.

When Usopp put the Dial on the ground Sanji gave it a series of solid kicks. After which they put it in the slot and all sat in the wagon. Lin looked at the little device critically.

"Is that really enough to power us?" Nami nodded.

"Just hold on tight!" Franky and Usopp started a countdown as Lin clutched Pika to herself tightly.

"3… 2… 1… **IMPACT**!!!" Usopp pulled a small lever in the front and took a tight hold on the steering device. For a few seconds there was nothing, but then there was a huge explosion behind them and the wagon shot forward like the Thousand Sunny's Coup De Burst, lifting off of the road from their acceleration.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!**"

* * *

Vice-Admiral Smoker was many things. Dedicated, headstrong, and didn't take crap from anyone, even his superiors. It was a miracle that he had been promoted to Vice-Admiral in the first place, what with his constant freelancing and idiotic excuses for how the Pirate King himself had gotten away when he was so close to being executed. Both he and his partner, Commander Tashigi, had only been promoted due to the inconvenience of the Mugiwara crew's actions, and were now considered as heroes of sorts among the marines.

Even if they didn't do a damned thing about all of those problems that those pirates had fixed. This fact exasperated the two to no end, and even as they chased the pirates like typical marines they wondered constantly who was in the right.

The two were sitting in a small cart and waiting impatiently as the driver slowly drove the horses towards Shimotsuki. They had been called to investigate the recent headline published by their paper, about a dragon that had attacked the nearby dojo.

And the dojo was saved by the Mugiwaras. Again. Smoker had no doubt that the crew had already left the place, and he couldn't help but be annoyed about the fact that he was still having to go all the way to the dojo (he couldn't be bothered to remember why he had agreed in the first place). He had carefully steered clear of Shell Town (there were rumors that Garp the Hero was there, and like hell he wanted to deal with _that_) and had taken the main road that led to Shimotsuki Village by hiring a small horse and cart. It was only the two, as they had left behind their marine crew to guard the ship.

And they were going slow as hell, what with the horses being declared delicate and the driver being a deranged chatterbox. While Smoker may have been many things, being patient was far, far from his mind. He growled to himself as he leaned forward for the umpteenth time. "Are you trying to get us there as a couple of skeletons? When are we arriving at the dojo?" The driver paused in whatever subject he was prattling on about.

"We'll be there by nightfall; I told you that Cherry and Cream had to go along slowly. Besides, because there are never any bandits or problems along this road, we can take as much time as we like!" The driver laughed to himself, the sound almost sadistic in Smoker's ears. But he supposed it wasn't as bad as earlier, when he had chased Luffy to Fuchsia only to discover a drunken Yonkou and a diminutive, angry mayor stating that they had left but a few days ago. The townspeople there were amazingly hospitable despite their apparent pride in having sent off the Pirate King, and had told the marines every little thing about Luffy that they could ever want to know. Or didn't even care about in the first place. He had actually walked out before the mayor could even really get started.

"I can't imagine what kind of place a man like Roronoa Zoro came from…" Tashigi muttered to herself. Ah, that was why he agreed, Smoker grumbled internally. Because his partner still had that damned fixation that she still needed to confiscate Roronoa's swords from him, and the marine that had assigned them had been sure to tell _her_ specifically that the dojo was where Roronoa himself was raised.

Smoker smelled a conspiracy. It may have been based off of illogical reasoning based on his own torment, but why the hell didn't they send the _other_ nearby Vice-Admiral? His musings were interrupted by a faint cry in the distance. The driver paused in his speech and slowed his horses to a halt, Smoker bemoaning the fact that it would take at least ten minutes to work the horses back to their original speed.

"What was that?" The sound grew increasingly louder as a small speck appeared on the horizon. Smoker's eyes widened as the speck increased at a rapid pace and revealed a wagon with a familiar looking group on it, traveling at a terrifying speed down the same road as they were on. The horses panicked and raced ahead blindly, setting a perfect collision course. Tashigi and the driver immediately began hyperventilating.

"We're gonna crash!!" Came the cry from the wagon in front of them. Smoker immediately sent out smoke, creating a sort of ramp of solid smoke. The wagon was up and off it in a second, and Smoker barely heard a yell of "Thanks Smokerrrr!!" as the horses raced ahead, their youth apparently restored.

* * *

Lin clung to the edge of the wagon, Pika passed out from lack of oxygen (she really needed to break that habit of crushing her lungs) and shook in terror even as the wagon slowed to a stop near the middle of town. The rest of the crew clambered out of the wagon, stretching sore limbs, and looked around with satisfaction.

"We're alive…" Usopp muttered, retrieving his Impact Dial from the back of the wagon. Luffy grinned.

"Thanks to Smoker! I wonder what he was doing there…" Everyone simply shrugged. Chopper suddenly blinked and looked around.

"Where's Lin and Pika?" Robin pointed.

"Lin-san is still in the wagon, and Pika-chan passed out from lack of oxygen again."

"Gah!! Lin!! Let go of Pika!" Lin blinked a bit then noticed she was strangling Pika. She immediately released her grip and dropped Pika into her lap.

"Sorry Pika!" Pika was unable to reply. As Lin climbed out of the wagon, holding Pika, the crew noted that they had rolled to a stop just a few feet from the Food Foo's entrance. There was a considerable crowd of both townspeople and marines watching them warily, although about them as the Pirate King's crew in general or the fact that they had rocketed there on no more than a wagon they weren't sure. But then the kids pulled from their mothers' grasps and crowded around the wagon shouting exclamations of "sugei!" and they were pretty sure it was the latter.

Rika also came out of the restaurant to see what the commotion was about and gave a little exclamation of joy at seeing the crew. "Onii-san!! You're back!" She shoved her way through the other kids and mothers and latched on to Zoro's leg again. Nami giggled a bit before images of the poisoned onigiri flew through her mind. She hurriedly announced

"Well, while I'm sure Zoro would _love_ to stay a bit (Zoro gave her a glare that sent all of the people behind her into a near coma) we need to move on soon! Sorry, Rika."

Rika's eyes widened and her eyes started to tear, much to Nami's horror. "I thought you'd be a lot longer… I didn't have enough time to make more onigiri…" Rika sniffled a bit and Zoro and Nami shifted uneasily. Luffy groaned at the prospect of lost onigiri.

"But I wanted some too…" He grumbled. He then perked up and slammed a fist into his palm as an idea occurred to him. "Yosh! You can just make some for us while we pack up the Thousand Sunny! We'll have it for the trip!" Luffy and Rika beamed at each other before Rika raced back into the restaurant to prepare more onigiri, leaving Zoro to rub his sore leg and wonder what he ever did to deserve such a thing.

* * *

The driver was unconscious. His passengers weren't sure when it had happened (most likely when the other cart had rocketed over their heads and nearly smashed them to pieces) but they had most certainly found out when they hadn't heard a peep from him for over five minutes. Although, Tashigi inwardly grumbled to herself, Smoker probably knew the entire time and was simply enjoying the peace and quiet. Not that she herself had any complaints.

But the horses were still running as though their lives depended on it, and they had no idea of where they were going. Smoker had been adamant about leaving the driver be when Tashigi attempted to wake them, and they argued over this for a while, losing track of time. When the driver came round on his own he first noted that the sun was a bit lower in the sky, signaling that he had been out for almost two hours. The second thing he noticed was that the horses were traveling faster than they had when five years younger. He immediately jumped up in indignation.

"What's going on here??" The two marines paused and looked at him as he glared at them.

"Now look what you've done, you woke him up!" Smoker muttered to Tashigi, who flushed.

"I was simply saying that it would be rude to not wake a man when we have already paid for his services…"

"Services my ass. If anyone should have paid anything, it would be him paying us for those horses learning to pick up those feet! The damned creatures aren't old at all!"

"Smoker-san! Don't say such a thing about another man's animals, please!"

"If the man doesn't take proper care of his animals he won't have any anymore! I'm only preserving his livelihood! Plus he **talks **all the damn time…" The driver noted that they had drifted off the road a ways back and were now approaching a forest. Quietly he pulled a small lever in the cart next to the driver's seat and watched in satisfaction as the back of the wagon that the two were leaning on suddenly gave way and they tumbled into the road. The driver made a beeline for where he knew the road to be and laughed in satisfaction.

"The dojo's right in the middle of the forest! So long, suckers!" He called back as he used his horses' newfound speed to leave the ungrateful travelers far, far behind.

Smoker scowled at the man's back as he picked himself up, wishing every seaman's curse he had ever heard since his first days as a chore boy on the driver. He turned towards Tashigi, who was searching for her lost glasses that had miraculously perched themselves on top of her head.

"This is all your damned fault." Tashigi looked in the direction she took Smoker to be incredulously.

"How is any of this _my _fault??" Smoker snorted as he gave her glasses a swat from behind, sending them down on her nose. He gestured for her to follow as he started walking towards the forest.

"The hell if I know."

* * *

Brothers Ko and Uta took more pride lately in being students of Koshiro, who they had recently learned was the sensei of Roronoa Zoro. When they watched their sensei help the crew of the Pirate King defeat a dragon (being one of the only ones to get a good hit on him) they began to take their training very seriously. They were a little disappointed when the pirates had vanished by the time the dojo awoke the next morning, but Koshiro had assured them that that was just their way.

So the boys had decided to start training in the woods, something that many stories assured them would make them more (and here they looked around cautiously to see if anyone could hear them use such language) … _badass_.

Ko and Uta were still chatting about the pirates as they left to their little 'secret training area,' the pirates having been there only the day before.

"And then she asked me for a hug! I didn't think pirates wanted hugs…"

"I know! She was so silly! I've never seen her wanted poster before, though…"

"Maybe she's a secret member! You know, the kind that can sneak into _anywhere_ and no one will notice! Like a spy! Besides, that guy with the really long nose didn't have a wanted poster either, and he was a fighter!" Ko stared at his little brother oddly.

"… You _do_ realize that he was the masked guy, Sogeking, right?" Uta's jaw dropped.

"EH?? No way!" Ko only sighed as they continued on.

"I can't believe I'm related to you sometimes. You're so stupid!"

"I'm not the one who tried to sneak out the window to fight a _dragon_!"

"At least I was brave!"

"That pirate didn't think so! She thought you were _stupid_!"

"She never said that!"

"Did so!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Ya huh!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Ya huh!" Ko flew at his brother and they scuffled a bit before another voice floated over to them. Quietly the two snuck behind a large tree and peeked out to see two marines standing and looking around.

"Smoker-san, are you sure we aren't lost?"

"I ain't lost, dammit!"

"Men! Why can't we ask for directions??"

"Put your glasses on, fool. You're talking to a tree!"

"My glasses _are_ on!"

"Then you should pay attention to your surroundings! Like the two kids attempting to spy on us!" Smoker reached an arm towards the boys, and they jumped back when the gloved hand seemed to detach itself and snatched them up. As they were dragged back to the marines (later they would tell how they did _not_ shed a single tear of fear) the two noticed how the hand was attached to a long pillar of smoke. Smoker unceremoniously plopped the two in front of him and Tashigi. The boys immediately stood, holding up their bokken.

"W-We aren't s-scared of you guys!" Uta nodded frantically.

"Our sensei fought a real dragon you know, and we're his top students!" The two marines exchanged glances before Tashigi kneeled down and smiled sweetly at the two.

"Your sensei? Are you two from the Shimotsuki dojo?" They nodded.

"Isn't that great, Smoker-san! They can take us to the dojo!"

"I don't need help."

"It's not _help_, it's them being gracious hosts. Right, boys?" The two exchanged glances before nodded simultaneously. They immediately grabbed one of Tashigi's hands each and began to drag her towards the dojo, Smoker following with a final 'harrumph.'

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

Lin scowled a bit as she attempted to scratch her cheek and ended up slamming a bokken on her head. The second that Shell Town was out of sight, Zoro had declared that the few days of not training needed to be made up and had immediately bound Lin's hands to her bokken and all but dragged her up to the Crow's Nest. He then told her to _stay put_ as he found Brooke and dragged him up as well.

They sparred some more, Zoro occasionally pausing the training to tell Lin that _no_, she needed to hold up the bokken towards the _opponent_, not herself. She also did her strokes wrong, and he had her repeat her last maneuver again and again until he was semi-satisfied. Another time he had called "Oi."

Lin had turned and was immediately knocked on the head by Brooke. She fended off the next blow and snapped "What??" Zoro shrugged from his lazing position by some weights.

"Don't get distracted." Lin's eye twitched before Brooke whapped her arm again and she turned all of her attention back to sparring. Loathe as she was to admit it, for all of his lunk-headed comments and hard-to-please attitude he was a good teacher. Lin found that her mental count of the welts she acquired over a certain amount of time eventually decreased by one.

Her body was very grateful for that one unharmed spot.

Eventually Zoro had called for a half-hour break, his eyes nearly rolling back in his head as Lin suspected that the training was eating into his napping time. She turned to ask Brooke to get the bindings off of her wrists, but he had already left. And she couldn't exactly climb down the ladder with two bokken strapped to her hands.

Turning back to Zoro, she noted with disbelief that he was already snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Lin hesitated a bit before walking over and asking "Zoro?" He snored.

"Zooorooo?"

Snore.

"Onigiri-sensei?"

Loud snore.

"ZO-RO."

A twitch, then a snore. Lin groaned, remembering how she used to laugh at the anime when Zoro had been sleeping through so many crazy things. It wasn't nearly as funny when she didn't have her hands free and was trapped in the gym for the whole thirty minutes she had of free time. Lin paused to think. What usually woke up Zoro? She mentally listed the things.

There was… Sanji.

Rum.

Sake.

Beer.

Any kind of alcohol.

Bounty hunters.

Swordsman.

Luffy.

Brooke.

Nami

Attacks… Lin blinked as she glanced at the bokken on her hands. What if…? Carefully positioning herself so she was as far away from Zoro yet could still reach with her bokken, she raised up the bokken and swung it at his head…

Which was caught by an arm. At first Lin thought that she had succeeded, but then another snore erupted from Zoro and she exclaimed in horror.

"Aw, come on!!" She began poking his face with the bokken. "Come on, Zoro! Wake up, dammit! Do I have to call you Marim-" Suddenly he was awake and staring at Lin fiercely, as if daring her to finish that sentence. Lin froze and swallowed heavily. "N-Never mind." Zoro yawned and sat up, rubbing his face.

"What d'you want?" He grumbled. Lin awkwardly held up her arms, gesturing with a nod towards the bokken.

"… I can't get these off…" No sooner had she said this when Zoro's arm became a blur and the bandages fell to the ground in a heap of tiny confetti. "… What?" But Zoro was already asleep. Lin simply shook her head then inwardly cheered. She rushed towards the hatch, already planning her escape…

Brooke burst through the hatch and laughed loud enough to wake Zoro. "Thirty minutes are up, Zoro-san! Lin-san, may I see your-" Lin was still clutching her bokken and immediately whapped Brooke across the head with both of them in a perfectly coordinated strike, sending him toppling to the ground. Lin's eye twitched heavily as she glared down at the skeleton, immediately blaming the poor undead gentleman for her problems.

"JUST SHUT UP AND FIGHT!!!"

* * *

Tashigi noted with bemusement how the two boys continued to tell her how the dragon had attacked their dojo. Their version changed with every story, but it always had the same attack in the middle with their sensei gave the dragon a devastating attack in the middle.

And then they began to talk about the pirates.

The female marine scowled a bit as they went on and on about Roronoa Zoro, who had saved them all in the nick of time with a single stroke. She had seen the pictures in the newspaper; she didn't want to hear the whole thing again. But she also didn't have the heart to discourage the two who seemed so excited about the subject.

"And Ko even tried to fight the dragon himself! But that pirate lady wouldn't let him. She said he was being stupid and dishonorable." Uta nodded as Ko scowled at him.

"She didn't call me stupid! She told me to grow up!"

"Is there a difference?"

"Of course there is! And she was real smart about it too!" Smoker chuckled a bit from where he was walking behind them.

"You know the world's gone mad when orange-haired thieves have to teach kids common sense." He grumbled. The kids paused and looked at him weirdly.

"It wasn't the orange-haired pirate…" Smoker blinked.

"The taller one with black hair then."

"Nooo." Another blink.

"Those are the only two that the villagers in Fuchsia saw with them, right?"

"It was the one with brown hair with a blonde streak! I've never seen her poster…" Smoker seemed disturbed.

"They've got a new crewmember, Tashigi…"

"I already knew."

"Hm??" Smoker immediately whirled on Tashigi. "And you didn't say so because??"

Tashigi was so startled that she tripped over some random rock, her glasses flying away. "Oh!"

"Dammit Tashigi! That is important information!"

"You were there when that mayor told us!" Tashigi muttered as she groped around for her fallen glasses.

"Told us what??"

"That there was a girl that fell from the sky and landed on top of the mayor! Later she joined the Pirate King along with her pet!" The brothers looked at Tashigi oddly.

"… Fell from the sky?" Tashigi nodded.

"People kept calling her an alien, but according to the town's doctor she's actually a trans-dimensional human…" Uta began wailing.

"I got hugged by an alien _guy_ that looked like a girl??" Ko rolled his eyes as he handed Tashigi her glasses.

"She said _trans-dimensional_, not transvestite!" But Uta had already run off, screeching.

"I GOT HUGGED BY AN OTHERWORLDLY PERV!!!" And he ran right into the dojo and slammed the door behind him. That was when the remaining trio noticed that they had arrived at the dojo. Tashigi blinked.

"Was it something I said…?" Smoker coughed to hide a chuckle at the look of absolute bewilderment on her face. He then turned to Ko.

"So where's your sensei? We need to talk to him." Ko nodded and ran ahead into the dojo. Meanwhile Tashigi was inspecting the dojo with critical eyes. But no matter how she looked at it, the place was no more than a simple country-side dojo, not a factory for demonic fiends. A few boys training with some straw dummies over here, a building for exercise over there, a decapitated dragon head in front…

Tashigi paused, taking off her glasses and wiping them on her sleeve, then placed them back on and stared at the head some more.

"… Smoker-san…?"

"Yeah, I see it." Their conversation was cut off when a man hobbled out of the dojo with a broken leg to greet the guests. And stopped short at the sight of Tashigi, a look on his face that Tashigi knew all too well. She grinned wryly.

"Let me guess, I look like someone you know?" The man nodded. His face was nearly a perfect picture of the first time Tashigi had met Roronoa Zoro two years ago in Logue Town, with utter shock and horror, and an undertone of mourning… The man shook himself and introduced himself.

"… My apologies. My name is Koshiro, and I am the sensei of this dojo. Welcome." Here the man bowed traditionally, if not awkwardly with his crutches, which Tashigi immediately replied to in turn. Smoker simply stood there. "I presume that your name is Tashigi?" Tashigi blinked and nodded. The man smiled, a bit hesitant. "Zoro told me about you. A marine that looks so much like my daughter and wishes to obtain her own sword…" Tashigi's eyes widened.

"Daughter? Sword? You mean Wado Ichimonji?" Koshiro nodded.

"My family's Meitou. Come inside and have some tea. I believe we have much to talk about."

* * *

When Sanji had prepared dinner that night, he found that the food supply in their aquarium was dwindling. There were other, more exotic fish in there, but for reasons unknown Sanji had point blank refused to touch them. Lin simply chalked it up to them being so _weird_ looking and colorful. But that was another matter.

So after learned that they were running out of edibles, he had asked for volunteers to go fishing just as everyone finished up dinner. And had glared specifically at Luffy and Usopp.

Usopp shakily volunteered while Luffy immediately claimed his stake on the second fishing pole eagerly, and then glanced around as though he expected someone else to attempt to take away his place.

After kicking the two out, the rest of the crew sat around the table, chatting a bit. At first it was a simple topic of navigation, and how exactly they needed to sail to Syrup Village. Then Robin had asked "Lin-san?" Lin looked up from where she was rubbing Pika's ears affectionately.

"Yeah?"

"I had finished that history book and-" Lin stared at Robin with wide eyes as she interrupted.

"The whole thing?? I have to spend a whole _year_ studying that thing, and then I'm expected to understand every freakin' little concept about it all of my li-" Robin continued as though uninterrupted.

"And so I took the liberty of removing another book that I had asked you to put in your backpack, but I found another, more… _intriguing_ book next to it."

The crew was very interested to find that Lin suddenly paled enough to match Brooke's bone white complexion. They all looked at her curiously as she jerked away from the table, shaking in her boots. Nami blinked.

"Lin? What's wrong?"

"Lin-chan, whatever's the matter? Do you need more food?" Robin simply watched Lin's reaction.

"I… uh… needtolearntofish!" Lin spun on her heel and rushed out the door. "WHATEVER YOU SAW WAS A LIE!!!" The crew noted the cloud of dust from her departure and turned to Robin, who simply sipped her coffee. When asked what was with Lin's reaction, she only gave her usual mysterious smile.

* * *

Lin raced out of the galley and ran until she spotted Usopp and Luffy on the other side of the ship, sitting on the edge with their fishing poles. How could she let this happen?? Granted, she hadn't at all thought that she could hide anything from the archeologist, but she still thought that she might have more time!

Lin knew that this was all her fault. She _knew_ that she had packed another book for Robin inside her backpack, right next to the One Piece book! She _knew_ that she had never told Robin that she had anything to hide (as if she'd tell anyone _that_) and Robin had simply assumed that removing her own property was allowed. This was not at all Robin's fault, but Lin's.

That didn't mean that Lin wanted to face the consequences. She simply hoped that Robin wouldn't tell the others.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she walked up and tapped Usopp on the shoulder, causing him to jerk and turn around. He blinked. "Lin? You need something?"

"I was, err, wondering if you'd… teach me to fish?" Usopp seemed a bit skeptical of something, but shrugged and handed Lin the fishing pole. Seating herself so that she was sitting next to Luffy, she wound up the line as per Usopp's instructions and listened as he explained.

"Okay, there haven't been any bites yet, but first you need to learn how to cast the rod. It's actually just like throwing the boomerang, but more over your shoulder instead of to your side. Give it a throw while pushing that button there." Lin cast the line to Usopp's satisfaction. He told her that she simply had to wait for a tug at the end of the line, and then jerk up the pole. Lin would then get further instructions if she got thus far.

Usopp sat beside her as she sat with Luffy, all three mirroring each other's bored expressions. Usopp looked up and groaned.

"Why do _we_ always have fishing duty??" Despite being a somewhat mature eighteen-year-old, Lin snickered a bit.

"Ha, you said 'duty.'" Luffy threw back his head and laughed heartily as Usopp shot her a look. Suddenly Luffy froze, looking oddly at something in the sky. Lin blinked and followed his gaze.

"… It's a dot?" Usopp followed their gazes as he adjusted his goggles.

"No, it's a bird. A really, really big, pink, bird." Lin snickered again.

"A _bird_? Ha!" Usopp looked at her oddly. "Birds amuse me greatly." She simply stated.

"… Why?"

"… I don't know. It's just the thought of those feathered, twig-legged… *pfft* … tiny brained… beady eyed…" Lin suddenly guffawed, nearly dropping the fishing pole over the edge. "_Birds_!!" She cackled a bit as Usopp sweat dropped.

"Oookay…"

"**YOU!!!**" Lin and Usopp jumped as Luffy suddenly stood on the railing, pointing at the dot and glaring with an intensity few lived to see. "**YOU'RE THAT BIRD THAT ALMOST ATE ME!!!!**" Luffy then grabbed the rigging above him, stretching his arms.

"GOMU GOMU NO… ROCKET!!" Luffy slung his way up to the bird before Lin or Usopp could recover. Lin suddenly realized that it was the same bird that carried Luffy over Orange Town back when it was just him and Zoro, and marveled at Luffy's memory. Suddenly Usopp shrieked and his eyes widened behind his goggles.

"AYEEE!!! THE BIRD'S GOT LUFFY!!!"

"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!"

* * *

The crew was still sitting calmly in the galley when Lin burst into the room, nearly blowing the door off of its hinges. Franky immediately stood in indignation at the rough treatment of his ship, but everyone was silenced by Lin's wheezing and the crazed look in her eye.

"Luffy… Bird… Pink…" She attempted a few more words and then coughed some more from her panic. Everyone around her blinked rapidly, Nami standing from her chair.

"Hold on, Lin. Deep breaths. What happened to Luffy this time?" Lin coughed some more and stood up straight, speaking calmly despite her initial panic just moments before.

"Luffy got carried off by a giant pink bird." There was a general start in the room and a chorus of "NANIIIIII?!" Lin nodded frantically.

"We were all fishing and then he got all pissed at some dot in the sky! He started shouting about a bird that almost ate him and rocketed right up to it! And then the bird…" Lin suddenly trailed off and began to guffaw at the absolute idiocy of _Luffy_ being carried off by a _bird_. Meanwhile Franky went out on deck, demanding Usopp to tell him where the bird was. Franky then steered the ship as Lin giggled almost hysterically at the sheer irony and stupidity that Luffy would attempt such a thing again. Zoro swore under his breath.

"I thought he'd gotten over that…" The crew looked at him curiously. "The first day away from Shell Town he tried to eat the damn bird. It carried him away." Nami's eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, I get it! And the bird carried him over Orange Town just as Buggy was invading it! I remember that they had shot a cannon as it passed over, and that was when Luffy…" She trailed off. "I know where it's going; I need to talk to Franky." She briskly left the galley. Meanwhile Lin was trying to avoid Robin's gaze as the rest of the crew left to help the others, leaving them the only ones in the room.

"Lin-san."

"Mmph."

"You can't ignore the fact that I found out forever."

"It helps me on the inside." There was another silence until Nami started calling for the rest of the crew to come out. Robin stood as Lin turned towards the door.

"We can talk later." Lin simply gave another grunt of acknowledgement as she went out towards the deck.

She wasn't looking forward to it.

* * *

Tashigi stared at Koshiro as if his words could not register in her mind.

"And you… gave it to him??" She stood and pointed an accusing finger at Koshiro. "A little boy who knows nothing about Meitou, your family, or anything, and you gave him Wado Ichimonji?? Do you realize what he uses that sword for now?"

"Tashigi…"

"Slaughter! Mindless slaughter! Murders of innocent marines and citizens across the globe! He defiles that sword by simply wielding it! And in his _mouth_, no less! And you _gave_ it to him??"

"Tashigi."

"Don't you realize that a sword is like a child? A child! And you _gave_ your family's own _child_ away to some little boy that your late daughter had a simple rivalry with! And he grew up to be the most infuriating, inconceivable, mindless-"

"Tashigi, that's enough!!" Tashigi's mouth snapped close at the tone in Smoker's voice. Smoker nodded at Koshiro, who cleared his throat.

"I did give away my family's Meitou to some little boy. I did give it to Roronoa Zoro." Tashigi almost opened her mouth again, but quickly shut it at a look from Smoker. "And he did grow up to be the Pirate Hunter, and eventually the Pirate King's first mate. But I gave him my family's sword for a very simple reason, Commander." Tashigi almost flinched at the use of her title.

"I gave it to Zoro because I had always told my daughter that when she grew up, she could not become the World's Greatest Swordsman because she was a girl." Tashigi flailed a bit, a familiar fire returning to her eyes at the words. Koshiro held up a hand. "I've no doubt that you yourself have heard such words in the marine force, and while Kuina was the best in her class, I discouraged her to the point where she no longer wanted to train. She was already the best in the dojo, and she grew comfortable with the fact and strove for no more.

"But then there was a little boy that trained everyday to become the greatest, to best _her_, and she saw that if she did not train herself, she would eventually fall behind. What began as simple rivalry, my dear marines, became my utmost gratitude at what almost became my greatest failure as a father." Tashigi was silent as Koshiro paused for a second, eyes distant.

"That's what the new era is about, isn't it? The Era of Dreams. Kuina had a dream, Zoro had a dream. I told Kuina to give up her dream, and Zoro shoved it right back into her face with the same fire that she almost lost. I may not have had my daughter live to her teen years, but at least I know that she lived what little time she had to the fullest. _That_, Commander Tashigi, is why I gave Roronoa Zoro everything that meant anything to the only family I had left, my daughter Kuina."

Tashigi was stunned into silence, a fact that Smoker might have enjoyed greatly if he didn't know that she spent every second going over everything she thought she knew about Roronoa Zoro and revising every painful little detail.

Hindsight was a real bitch.

* * *

Gaimon glared at the man as he attempted to speak around his gag. The effort only produced a muffled swearing, which was awarded by a boot tipping his box over, leaving him to flail helplessly. Another man chuckled at his misery, sneering in contempt.

"To think we've found a live Jack-in-the-box…"

"Ha! This guy is even more fun! Did you see the way he tried to shoot his gun when we caged all of those freaks??"

"And that unibrow! I'd heard that strange things existed on the Grand Line, but who would have guessed we could find anything right here in the East Blue?" The two men speaking wore marine insignias, and Gaimon could only curse the fact that he should have realized that marines didn't go to unpopulated islands for treasure like he had first presumed.

At first he had attempted to scare them away, but he was merely whisked out of the bushes by a tall man who simply kicked him over when he protested and attempted to fight back. It wasn't until they had brought out a whole rally of cages for the rampaging animals attempting to avenge Gaimon that he pulled out his gun. The last thing he remembered was a sharp prick on his neck, and waking up with a horrible headache…

Then he found that he was gagged, with one marine sitting on his head and another standing around. They had bound his feet (not even bothering with his tiny, unused arms) and were now making his life miserable while the marine ship behind them began loading the strange machine they had apparently finished with a few days ago. The marines watched silently before the first one turned to the other.

"… What do you think of… that place?" The other man shrugged.

"Personally I think the story about there being another world is a bunch of bull. Half the marines that went in that tent never came out, you know! And there were almost a thousand with so many cages and tranquilizers…"

"Aw, come off it. We're only here because we're to preserve the greater good and all that crap! Plus…" The marine turned to Gaimon with a smirk. "Just think of what kind of money we'd get for such exotic freaks. Including the box mutant." He emphasized the last jibe with a nudge towards Gaimon. Gaimon's eyes narrowed and he protested furiously behind his gag, but the marines only laughed.

Suddenly a loud bird call sounded from above and the marines stood, guns cocked. "What the-?!" Gaimon's eyes widened and he became frantic.

The bird! He'd completely forgotten that the last free inhabitant of the island was due back from her yearly migration! Gaimon struggled as the large bird came into sight. An order went up from the ship behind Gaimon to ready the cannons.

Gaimon could only watch helplessly as a large shadow fell from the shot, and he wriggled furiously as the marines all crowded around the fallen bird. One of them suddenly yelled "Captain!! It's the Mugi-MMPH!!" A fist shot out from where the bird was and knocked him into the side of the ship.

And Monkey D. Luffy crawled out from under the bird, looking quite pissed. "You damn bird! First you carry me off and then you land on me! And now you're sleeping?! That cannon wasn't that hard, idiot!" Luffy blinked as he seemed to notice the throng of marines surrounding him. "Eh? What's going on?"

Meanwhile Gaimon's jaw had gone slack from shock. That Mugiwara kid was there?? What the hell?! The shock defied all laws of facial construction, and the gag loosened enough for him to pull up his hands and yank away the gag. "Mugiwara!!" Luffy blinked as he noticed Gaimon.

"Uncle?? What's up? Hey, guess what?? I found One Piece! I told you I'd do it!" Gaimon nodded frantically, not really paying attention, as the marines near him suddenly realized his freedom.

"That's great, Mugiwara. But they've taken the animals! They've taken them all, and they're-" A small '_whizz_' was heard and Gaimon suddenly slumped over. Luffy blinked.

"Uncle? Your animals?? What happened? What are they do-" Another '_whizz_' sounded off and Luffy blinked, pulling something out of his neck.

"… A… pen… cil…?" Luffy suddenly fell to the ground, the object rolling out of his grasp and coming to a stop at the foot of another, taller man. The man picked up the object, nodding to himself.

"He'll be out for at least a few days, give or take a lifetime. You know, I always wondered what I would do when I met the alleged Pirate King, and I must say that stabbing him with my writing utensil wasn't exactly the first thing to cross my mind." The man held up a small pencil, grinning at his own words. He was a tall man, with long black hair slicked back into a ponytail and jade eyes set in an angular face. The marines around him saluted.

"Complex-san!" He waved a hand nonchalantly, smiling good-naturedly.

"How many times must I tell you; it's Fei! Grab the so-called king; I'm making one last trip before the doorway completely closes up, and he's to accompany me." The marines saluted again. "Yes, Fei-san!" Fei's eyes suddenly darkened and he was in the offending group's faces in an instant.

"What did you call me??" The marines shrank back at the man's icy tone. One of the bravest (or stupidest) spoke up.

"F-Fei-san…" The man was down in an instant, his hand still flying towards his neck with a look of startled pain as he soundlessly collapsed. The marines around him quivered in their boots as Fei calmly regarded the fallen man, yanking out his pencil from the man's throat.

"Now, what did I ask you to call me?" There were a few mumbled answers. "**What did I ask**?!"

"Fei!" They all cried as one. Instantly the dark look left his eyes and he smiled brightly at them.

"Good! Now don't get caught in the portal while I'm gone; it'll automatically close without the machine in just a few days! Keep the animals and their creepy guardian here until I return. Good night!" He waved to them as he walked back towards the lone tent set up in the middle of the island, some of the marines warily going over to grab the unconscious pirate captain and following him.

What the marines didn't notice was that Gaimon wearily kept his eyes open and muttered to himself before he completely lost consciousness.

"Few… days…? Mugiwara…!"

* * *

Yeah, I'm gonna cut this chapter short. A cliff hanger?? I haven't done something like that in years! And DUN DUN DUNNNNNN, A REVIEWER-SUBMITTED OC HAS ARRIVED!! Fei Complex, submitted by Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, has been titled the bad guy of this arc! LET'S ALL GIVE HIM A WARM WELCOME!! *hugs Fei and gets stabbed by pencil*

Oh… No, if you stab your teacher with a pencil she will _not_ fall unconscious for a few days, unfortunately. Fei's got some special writing utensils, hur hur… :I

And Robin found the One Piece book?! But you didn't _really_ think that Lin would keep the whole thing a secret forever, did you? Robin is like Batman; _she knows all_. Oo;;

Rest assured that the rest of the crew will not find out for a very, very long time. Long enough so that I can put the very _idea_ of them finding out in the corner of my mind and let it collect dust for a bit. But it's essential to the East Blue Saga's plot that at least _one_ crew member knows about Lin being a One Piece fan. Robin is naturally the first to find out.

To those who know me well enough, birds make me absolutely insane. I have absolutely no reason, as the humor in birds is a mystery even to me. Lin understands. :D


	14. Discoveries

Oh, an update in only a few days?? What's wrong with you, Linhae?! Well…

TODAY'S MY BIRTHDAY. :DDD In my own way of celebrating my 17th, I've decided to grace (curse) you all with an early update as a thank you for reading this story!

In other words, to celebrate my birthday I've worked my own ass twice as hard to provide **two** chapters this week. My logic is so screwed. Oh well, I did it anyway. It's a really short chapter, but… I'M JUST WEIRD LIKE THAT. Rest assured, I'll still have the next chapter of Horizons up this weekend. Otherwise that would defeat the purpose of an early short chapter. xP

I'm going to warn you right now; I'm still experimenting with fight scenes. I've got Lin's fighting style in mind, but I'm still dabbling in my fight-writing skills. They fail, but thank you for putting up with them anyway. :3

DISCLAIMER!!!

DO. NOT. OWN. ONE. PIECE. OR. POKÉMON. OR. FEI. OR. AYUMU. OR. KAI.

* * *

**"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them."**

**~Galileo Galilei**

"Listen up everyone, Luffy has been carried off by a bird, as you all know." The crew nodded. They were all standing out on the Thousand Sunny's deck, Nami standing by a barrel with a map of the East Blue on it. It was late at night.

"But he was carried off by a very specific bird, one that had attempted to carry him away before. We are here," She pointed to a spot on the map near a dot labeled 'Orange Town.' "And the bird, according to my calculations, travels west over Orange Town and to this island here." Nami pointed to a dot labeling a small island.

"Gaimon's Island?" Nami nodded at Lin's question.

"Luffy, Zoro (although he was asleep the whole time) and me once went to this island a couple years back. The entire island is populated by rare crossbreed animals and their caretaker, Gaimon. Gaimon knows Luffy well enough so I'm sure that he won't allow the bird to eat him, so we just need to go and pick him up. If most of us take shifts steering, we should be there by morning. Any questions?" There were none. "Good. Sanji-kun, could you take the first shift?"

"HAI, NAMI-SWAAAN~!!" Sanji noodled about before dashing up to the steering wheel as per Nami's instructions.

"Everyone else can go to bed; I'll stay with Sanji-kun to make sure that we're going the right way." Nami must have known what Robin was trying, Lin thought sourly. Now it was only going to be her, Robin, and Pika in the room, and that meant Lin had no excuse for not talking about Robin's find.

"Coming to bed, Lin-san?" Lin sighed heavily at Robin's inquiry.

"Yeah, I suppose I need to get it out of the way."

* * *

Lin carried Pika in her arms, feeling as though going to a death sentence as she walked down the halls. Behind her Robin seemed almost amused at Lin's discomfort.

"I'm not mad Lin-san; I can understand why you would keep the book secret."

"I still feel kind of crummy…" They finally reached the girl's quarters, Lin going to her hammock where her backpack had been placed. She was about to open it before Robin held up the One Piece volume that was sitting next to her own bed.

Lin sighed as she took the offered book. It was volume 23, titled 'Vivi's Adventure.' On the cover there was a picture of Vivi herself, with Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji and Chopper in the background in the middle of their battles at Alabasta. Lin also knew that in that particular volume was Luffy's final battle with Crocodile, and Robin's betrayal of Crocodile.

She definitely had reason to hide such a thing.

"At first I only assumed that you were an artist, perhaps from the World Government. How else would you know about the Princess of Alabasta?" Lin looked up at Robin, who had walked over and put her hand on the cover, opening it to a certain page.

"But no World Government agent would print, in such accurate detail, what had happened in that tomb." Robin flipped the book to Crocodile, when he was talking to the king about Pluton just before Robin attempted to kill him. Lin nodded slowly.

"No, I suppose Pluton would be off limits." She attempted a dry laugh. "Hey Pika, go ask Sanji if he can give you some ketchup. Remember what I taught you." Pika was up and out the door in a flash. She turned back to Robin.

"This is… kind of awkward. So what do you want to know?" Robin nodded.

"I imagine so. Where did you get that book?"

"At the library. I had to order it. But the real question is how such a book would exist, isn't it?" Robin nodded. "That's kind of awkward. Remember how I told you that Ryuuma and D.R. were from a story? Well… So are you guys."

Lin explained how there was a story called One Piece, the story of a seventeen-year-old named Monkey D. Luffy and how he ventured to become the Pirate King. It all started from ten years before, when Shanks had first given him his Straw Hat, and went all the way up to the Whitebeard War saga.

"Saga?"

"What the different sections of the story are called. But the Whitebeard War was the latest…"

"So there are parts missing?"

"Not missing, per se. More like not having gotten there yet." Robin seemed to understand.

"So when you first saw myself and Doctor-san that day…"

"I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating or if I should ask you for your autograph. I'm still not sure, you know."

"Understandable. You know how everyone was recruited?"

"Yep. Well, at least everyone on this ship."

"Yes, we still have nakama waiting for us to pick them up. But even Doctor-san?"

"Taken from Drum Island after helping to overthrow Wapol."

"Navigator-san?"

"After stealing the Going Merry and treasures, her island was saved from eight years of enslavement."

"Myself?"

"After Luffy stopped Baroque Works which you were part of, you stowed away on the ship."

"Franky-san?" Lin turned such a shade of red it would make any tomato jealous. Robin laughed slightly. "You certainly know then. A story about us? Even our pasts?" Lin was a bit quiet in her answer.

"Yeah, even the pasts." Robin gracefully steered the topic away.

"So you knew about our world even before you came here…" Lin was very grateful for the change.

"Yeah, but everyone at Fuchsia knew that I had fallen from who-knows-where, so I had to pretend that I didn't. You know, it's almost funny. You hear stories about people who fall into this world and join you guys, but it's almost always at the beginning. Would be pretty convenient, knowing what would happen next. Which people to stay away from, which battles to avoid." Lin sighed.

"I loved those stories, and now I'm stuck in one where there's something huge happening and I have no idea what. I know half the places, I know most of the people, but I can't even begin to guess what kind of stuff is happening." Robin watched as Lin sighed again, easing herself into the hammock.

"At least if I was here back then I could have attempted to warn you guys away from the horrible things. I could have tried to tell Nami that even if she didn't shove Johnny and Yosaku overboard and steal everything from Luffy, he would have saved her village anyway. I could have told Zoro that he didn't need to try to cut off his legs to escape from Mr. 3. I could have told Vivi that if she tried to stop the rebellion all by herself she would have failed. I could have said that Conis would turn everyone in at Skypiea. I could have told Usopp that he was making the biggest mistake of his life when he left the crew." Lin looked up at Robin helplessly.

"I could have told Luffy that even after he went to the ends of the earth for Ace, he would still watch his own brother die for his sake. There was so much shit that happened to you guys, and at least I could have told you. At least I could have been helpful in that sense. Now I'm just stuck with a bunch of all powerful people that I could never hope to be even with, and I have no way to get home." Lin visibly drooped as Robin stood silently. Lin then looked up as a thought occurred to her.

"You won't… tell anyone, will you?" Robin shook her head.

"No, I won't. I can appreciate a secret that needs to be kept. It will be up to you alone if they ever find out."

"Thanks, Robin. I do know what you mean about Luffy though, he doesn't let go of his nakama so easily, eh?"

"Not at all, Lin-san. Not at all."

* * *

The marines had dumped Luffy at the door of the tent and had left Fei alone. Fei simply picked up the captain by the back of his vest, not seeing his hat fall off and away, and had dragged him into the tent. No one noticed the hat roll to a stop behind some nearby bushes.

Luffy awoke to someone dragging him by the back of his vest, he put a hand to where his hat should be and his eyes widened at the loss. Looking up at the man dragging him, he demanded

"Oi, where's my hat??" The man blinked down at him.

"You aren't supposed to be awake…"

"Are you stupid or something? Where's my hat?!" Luffy didn't seem to notice that he was in some sort of building with rows of jail cells. He also didn't notice the man walking beside the man dragging him with the ring filled with keys.

He also didn't notice when they had stopped in front of a cell with another person in it. Luffy only cared at the moment for his hat. The man blinked in thought as they stopped in front of one of the cells and opened the door. He then pointed to the cell, releasing Luffy.

"Your hat's in there." Luffy immediately ran into the cell, not noticing them slam the door behind him and locking it. He turned around in indignation.

"Oi, my hat's not in here you bastards! You lied to me!" But they had already gone down the hall. Luffy huffed and crossed his arms. "Damn liars." He looked around his new quarters, not noticing the figure in the corner staring at him with wide eyes.

"Monkey… D. Luffy??" Luffy turned at the incredulous whisper, blinking slightly.

"Yeah, that's me. Who are you?? Have you seen my hat?" The figure stood and walked over to him, revealing a girl about seventeen-years-old, with bright orange-red hair and matching orange eyes. She stared at Luffy as though not really believing he was there. She then shook herself, holding out her hand.

"My name's Ayumu. Ayumu Sugiura; and I do believe we've been taken prisoner, Mr. Pirate King."

* * *

By the time morning had come, it was Robin's turn to steer the ship. Nami and Robin were chatting a bit when Usopp let up a cry from the Crow's Nest.

"Nami, we're here! We're at Gaimon's Island!" Nami let out a breath of relief.

"At the very least, Luffy hasn't sunk the island. We should be there in about half an hour-"

"MARINES!! MARINES ARE AT THE ISLAND!!"

"… I should have known it wouldn't be so easy." Nami groaned before calling out "ALL HANDS ON DECK!! EVERYONE GET YOUR LAZY ASSES OUT HERE!!!"

There was a loud crashing noise that sounded from the boy's room as the boys all attempted to exit the smaller doorway at the same time. Meanwhile Sanji flitted out of the galley, where he had been preparing breakfast.

"Nami-saaaaan~! What do you need~?" The rest of the boys rushed out on deck, all looking around for the enemy. Nami pointed behind her, where they were approaching the marine ships.

"We've got marines at the island. We can't use the Gaon Cannon to get rid of them, so we need to go on land to attack. And where the hell is Lin?!" There was another, albeit quieter crash and Lin stumbled and tripped out on deck, Pika right behind her. Lin tripped again over her halfway on boots and her head fell into the hat she had dropped on the deck. Pika stood on top of Lin's back and irritably smoothed down her ruffled fur.

"Pikachu?" Nami twitched a bit; Lin's entrance was far too much like the boys' for her liking.

"Lin, get up! There're marines here!" Lin's head shot up and she blinked rapidly.

"… Marines? As in… fighting?"

"Yes! Fighting! You need to learn, so get your weapons and grab some breakfast! Everyone eat, we'll be there in about twenty minutes for a land assault! Let's go!!" The crew scrambled into the galley as Sanji served them all a quick, energizing breakfast. They had just finished eating when Nami called that they were in range. Lin and Pika blinked simultaneously.

"In range of what?" Instead of answering, Zoro grabbed the back of Lin's jacket and shoved her weapons in her hands, dragging her out on deck. Lin's jaw dropped as she noticed that they were about ten yards from shore, the marines lined up and all aiming their guns at them.

"READY…" Before the marines could fire, Zoro dropped Lin and drew two swords and swung them similar to how Lin had done to Brooke just yesterday.

"**Taka Nami!**" A rush of compressed air slammed into the marines, and the entire line scattered as the marines were blown in different directions. He nodded to Nami, who ordered

"Prepare to land!" Lin blinked and watched as Sanji scooped up Nami, Franky grabbed Robin, and Usopp jumped on Chopper's back and they all dashed to the side of the ship.

And then jumped the entire length to shore, landing gracefully and immediately jumping into battle. Brook and Zoro followed, Zoro again grabbing Lin by her jacket after sheathing his swords and Brooke scooping up Pika. Lin began panicking.

"H-Hold on!! I suck at fighting against GROOUUUUPSSS!!!" Lin shrieked as Zoro leaped off the ship and landed on his feet while Lin did a face plant similar to when she had woken up. She was roughly yanked to her feet just as a sword dug into the ground where she had been.

"Pay attention and fight!!" Zoro yelled before diving into the fray himself. Brooke released Pika and Pika immediately clambered over to Lin, zapping the marines.

"PIKACHU!!" The marines all backed into a circle around Lin, Lin finally pulling out the boomerang swords. She swore.

"Damn! I should have stayed in Kung Fu at _least_ until I learned past the basics of group fighting! Pika, give the swords a zap; time to test these out!" Pika hopped on Lin's shoulder and complied, the boomerangs glowing a bit with the charge. Lin settled into a proper fighting stance as she face the group, then swung the swords in imitation of Zoro at a marine who had had enough of waiting. "HYA!!"

The marine fell back as he writhed from the voltage, two clean cuts across his chest. Lin studiously ignored the blood; she had learned to ignore such things after a few street fights.

Lin eyed the boomerangs, which had only lost a little light. "Only a little per person, eh? Clever. Pika, add Usopp to my 'Good Karma' list." She then eyed the marines, which had warily noted what had happened to their fallen comrade. "Now for some pokémon attacks! Pika! Thundershock!" Pika's cheeks sparked and she leapt into a bulge of the marines behind Lin.

"PIKACHU!!" The marines' swords seemed to act like lightning rods and they were felled instantly. Lin almost sweat dropped at how easy they were; even if they were only East Blue, she didn't think they were _that_ weak. Then one of the marines raised up his sword.

"Come on men! It's only some witch and her creepy pet! GET HER!!!" The marines then all charged at once, the ones behind Lin had been already taken care of. Lin eeped and attempted the same sword stroke as before, in her blind panic accidently touching the blades of the still-charged boomerangs together briefly before swinging.

The effect was that a wave of blue electricity, similar to Nami's Swing Arm, flew through the air and breezed right through the oncoming marines. The marines blinked a bit in confusion before the voltage registered in their systems and they went out like burned out light bulbs, still twitching from the electricity. Lin and Pika blinked rapidly, Lin glancing down at the boomerangs which had lost all charge and had returned to their bluish grey color.

"That was… SO COOL!!" Lin pumped the boomerang in the air, nearly doing a little dance. "Didja see that Pika?! That was amazing! Just like a wave of THUNDA!! Even if it completely discharged the boomerangs... Discharge... Isn't that a pokémon move…?" Lin suddenly blinked as she remembered something. "Oi!! They called me a witch!! THE HELL?!?!" Lin glared as she looked around for the offending marine, and then blinked as a glimmer of metal from the far off bushes caught her attention.

She walked over, shoving aside some bushes, then gasped as she came into a clearing.

"Whoa!"

* * *

Nami disassembled her Clima Tact as she looked over critically over the fallen marines. "What a bunch of idiots; even if they're East Blue, I didn't think they'd be so weak." She gave one of the marines near her a kick as he twitched slightly. She then glanced about. "Oi, has anyone found Luffy yet??" Various choruses of 'no' echoed around her, and she whirled at hearing one of them behind her. "Zoro?!" Zoro blinked warily at the tone in her voice.

"What?"

"You were supposed to be taking care of Lin!!"

"Eh, she'll live. You said so yourself; they're all pretty weak. I didn't even have to draw a single sword."

"And so is Lin, dammit!! I told you to make sure that she didn't get killed!"

"Yeah, and I taught her how to not skewer herself on her own swords."

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY AT ALL!!! IF LIN'S GOTTEN HURT BECAUSE OF YOUR DAMNED ATTITUDE, I SWEAR-"

"Nice to see you care, Nami." Nami and Zoro both whirled to see Lin walking up to them, Pika perched on her head. Nami opened her mouth to say something until she noticed the very large horde of weird animals behind Lin. Lin gave a sheepish wave. "Hi?" Nami gazed over her critically, and after ascertaining that there were no visible wounds on her, huffed and turned to Zoro, who was staring oddly at the dog-rooster that Lin was patting.

"That'll be one hundred thousand beri."

"The hell?! She's fine!!"

"It would have been four hundred thousand if she was hurt. That was just for the scare."

"Freaking witch!!"

Nami turned to Lin after Zoro lay on the ground, twitching from the large bump on his head. "So how did it go?" Lin shrugged.

"They all fell after only a little electricity. Weirdos. But the boomerang swords really worked out!" Nami nodded.

"That's good to hear; Usopp's inventions may be useless sometimes, but it's good that he pulled through." Lin then snapped her fingers as she remembered something.

"Oh yeah, speaking of pulling through; I found a Jack-in-the-box along with these guys in a bunch of cages! I untied him; I hope you don't mind…" Lin motioned behind her, and Nami was pleased to see Gaimon cautiously walk out from behind the bushes. Gaimon visible brightened upon seeing Nami.

"You! It _is_ you guys!!" Nami sighed in relief.

"Gaimon-san, you're okay! Have you seen Luffy?" Gaimon's eyes widened and he became panicked.

"That's right!! Last night the bird that lives here was shot down by the marine cannon and the kid landed here too! They've taken him somewhere, and they said something about the doorway being closed in only a few days and… Ergh…" Gaimon winced and he nearly toppled over. "Don' feel so good…" Lin tried to steady the little man as Nami began calling for the rest of the crew. When they arrived, Nami immediately had Chopper look over Gaimon. Zoro blinked as he recovered from Nami's blow.

"A man in a box? Where was I when this happened?"

"Asleep." Nami said in monotone, only watching as Chopper held up Gaimon's drooping eyelids.

After a bit, Chopper looked up at Nami worriedly. "He was hit by some sort of dart, dipped in a substance that knocks out the subject. It's a pretty dangerous mix though; it has high amounts of led!" Chopper pointed to a puncture mark on Gaimon's neck, and the crew stared at it until Gaimon groaned.

"Mugiwara…" Lin blinked as she looked down. She then asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Where did they take Luffy then?" Robin walked around a bit and then stopped short.

"Mina, look." The crew gathered around as a disembodied arm reached behind a bush and pulled out a yellow object. The arm tossed the object to Nami, who caught it with wide eyes.

It was Luffy's strawhat. Nami clenched the hat as she looked around. Her eyes rested on a small tent set up in the middle of a clearing. The crew followed her gaze, blinking.

"Luffy can't be held up in a little tent like that…" Zoro muttered. Nami snorted.

"The idiot can't be held up in anything. Why not something so ridiculous? Go check it out, Zoro." Zoro nearly growled something at Nami, but at a warning look instead trudged over and pulled back the flap of the tent. He stopped and stared inside.

"The hell??" The crew walked over and looked inside, staring incredulously.

Inside the tent was a large, door-sized crate. The oddest part was that they could see right through the side of the crate facing them.

And on the other side of the crate was a wall of pure blue. Lin gasped and stumbled back, tripping over her own feet.

"Everyone, get away from that _now_!!" The crew blinked down at Lin, who was staring at the crate with a bit of fear on her face. Sanji blinked.

"Lin-chan? Do you know what that is?" Lin shakily pointed to the crate.

"That's the last thing I saw before I wound up here. **That's a portal to another world!**"

* * *

"So, Ayumu, where are we?" Luffy sat in the prison cell facing Ayumu, who sat in a similar position. Ayumu shrugged.

"Like I know. I was following a lead on my brother when I was captured by some weirdo with a pencil." Luffy laughed.

"Ha! A pencil! You're pretty stupid! Shishishi~!"

"YOU GOT CAPTURED THE SAME WAY TOO, IDIOT!!" They were interrupted by footsteps coming down the hall, and they looked up to see Fei standing in front of the cell with a creepy grin on his face. He was hiding something behind his back.

"Hello friends. Would you like a cookie?" He held out his arm, where an innocent cookie was in his hand. Luffy immediately took it and swallowed it whole.

"Thanks mister! You're not so bad after all! But where's my hat??" The man stared incredulously at Luffy before shrugging and clearing his throat.

"I'm not here for you, Straw Hat. I'm actually here for the girl with an interesting accessory… Reminded me of a little thing I'd picked up a while back." Fei reached into his pocket as he spoke, then sported a delighted grin as he pulled out a small pin and showed it to Ayumu.

It was a small pin of an orange pearl with a single silver wing-like structure protruding from it. There was a fancy letter 'K' inscribed on the pearl. Ayumu gasped.

"That…"

"Like it? My boss confiscated it from a little rat that had infiltrated his work area. Silly little boy, what was his name? Kan… Koala…"

"KAI!! HIS NAME IS KAI!!" Ayumu flew into a rage, throwing herself at the bars and reaching with her hands as though to strangle Fei. "**WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?!?!**" Fei simply seemed amused by her attitude.

"Me? I've done nothing with him. I was only told to stick this contraption in the machine provided, set the coordinates and BAM, instantaneous travel! Apparently this pin is the key to my boss' work." Ayumu growled.

"You don't have the authority-"

"And you do?" Ayumu smirked at Fei with malice.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Fei looked at Ayumu for a long moment. He then turned and walked back down the hall.

"In that case, I'd hate for the guest of honor not to show up at her own meeting. I need to make a call; don't go away~!" He paused at the end of the hall, and then called back "And I dropped that cookie on the floor, **and left it there for five hours**!!" The last thing they heard was his maniacal laughter as he left. Luffy immediately grabbed his throat and made odd choking noises.

"Five _hours_?! Who the hell leaves food lying around for five hours?! …Hey, are you okay?" Luffy stared at Ayumu, who was staring after Fei with a stricken look on her face.

"Kai…"

"Oh yeah, who's Kai? Is he your nakama or something?" Ayumu nodded.

"My brother. I was tracking that pin; it's his."

"Don't you have your own?" Ayumu sighed and then snorted, rolling her eyes.

"You ask a lot of questions, don't you? Get me out of this cage and I just might actually answer them."

"Okay!"

"That was _sarcasm_, moron! I don't actually mean-"

"Gomu Gomu no…"

"… Shit."

"BAZOOKA!!"

* * *

Fei hummed a little tune as he waited for the other line to pick up. This certainly was an interesting development. He hadn't expected to meet a second person from the so-called secret organization. The other line picked up with a click.

"What?"

"Morning~! I've got some interesting news! There's this girl here with the same pin as the one you gave me!" Fei congratulated himself in the result of five, stunned silence-filled seconds.

"… Are you sure?"

"I gave it a try out on the machine and it worked like a charm! Then she gave me this crap about her having _authority_…"

"Same as the other one. Good work. Have you finished up work in the sector?"

"Yup! And guess what?? I've captured that crazy little Pirate King everyone's been going on about! He's in the holding cell with the girl right now!" Fei had to jump a few feet away as the man on the other line immediately began yelling.

"**YOU IDIOT**-"

**BOOM!!**

Fei nearly dropped the receiver as a large shock ran throughout the entire building. The man on the other line most likely heard, but continued his rant anyway.

"You've put the most powerful man in the world in a regular holding cell with one of _them_?? **HAVE YOU LOST YOUR-**"

"Got to go, ciao!" Fei quickly hung up the Mushi and raced down the hall, only to be greeted with a gaping hole behind what was left of the door. He then took a deep breath and began calmly walking down the hall and out the door, brushing past the people in the street gaping at the destruction, muttering to himself.

"You know the world's gone mad when kids like him go around eating tainted food offered by strangers, and then break out of prison within an hour of getting in. I feel for whoever raised that brat."

* * *

Yes, the marines all stood around waiting for Lin to attack them. And they all fall down after only a little shock. Babies. Not all marines will be like that, I promise. In other news…

THE HELL, LINHAE?!?! Another world?! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND???

**Yes.**

… Oh. Wow, I knew it had to happen some time…

**Well, you know. Things anticipated happen eventually.**

Right. Took the words right out of my mouth.

… **Lies.**

The hell?! I was _so_ gonna- *gets slapped with fish*

Whatever. And the first GOOD OC has appeared! Ayumu Sugiura submitted by (pure coincidence) Sayonara Yasashii Akumu is here~! I swear it's just a coincidence!! I had planned for Ayumu to appear in this arc for a while, and then when you guys all submitted your bad guy OC's and I assigned them to the arcs with bad guys Fei just happened to fit perfectly in this one! ISWEARIT'SNOTMYFAULT!!!

But I _did_ take her OCs a bit out of context… after asking for permission, of course. Do you want your OCs to be in the same group? **YOU GOTTA LET ME KNOW, BECAUSE THE MYSTERY GROUP NEEDS SOME MORE MEMBERS.**

Ah yes, the world that they're in. If you can guess where they are, you get a million cookies and a thousand hugs!! :DDD

… Yes, you'll find out next chapter. I'm not _that_ cruel about making people wait like that. That is all.

Linhae _ouuuuut_~! Please review!


	15. Leaps

**IMPORTANT NOTE: I AM GOING CAMPING NEXT WEEKEND AND WILL NOT HAVE ANY INTERNET. AND I HAVE TO FINISH AN ENTIRE RESEARCH PAPER BEFORE THEN. THIS MEANS NO CHAPTER NEXT WEEK. SORRY.**

Oh, wow… For my birthday I went to school and had a slice of pizza for lunch, which makes me a very happy person. After school my family picked me up and we all went to see 'How to Train Your Dragon' in 3D, which is an amazing movie and you must all see **right now**. I made a reference to it back in chapter 12. I then had KFC for dinner, one of my top three favorite restaurants.

Then I came home and there were five reviews sitting in my email. BEST. BIRTHDAY. EVER. I love you guys~!! T3T For someone who usually acquires the same amount of reviews over a week-long period, that was amazing! YOU'RE ALL SO GOOD TO MEEEEE~!!!*attempts to noodle dance, but then trips and breaks knees and ankles*

O3o Ow. You know, this chapter could also be called, in the traditional One Piece style, **Leaping Worlds! The Guide Known as the King! **Pretty flashy, eh? It works as the overview thing in the summary. :D

I could make it the official title, too. But I just put this chapter under 'Leaps' to save on typing space. It works, yo. It works.

In this week's segment of semi-advertisement semi-credit I bring you 'Wind with Ice' by Iryann and… that's all I had time for. D: Between writing my research paper, (that I need to pass English this year) writing _two_ chapters of Horizons, (or one and a half if you want to be technical) and even then still trying to find some free time, (of which, I have none) it's a miracle I even managed to read one story this week.

'Wind with Ice,' featuring the pairings of LuffyxVivi, ZoroxNami, and SanjixRobin, is a post-Whitebeard War fic with Vivi having rejoined the crew. Still experiencing heart troubles from his incident with Kuma, Zoro has been keeping his dwindling health a secret from all but Sanji, Robin, Brooke, and Chopper. The fact that he's been having ominous nightmares featuring one of his old childhood friends being captured and tortured doesn't help at all. When one of these friends appears before the crew and relates that the other _had_, in fact, been captured, the crew has to find out what the man wants with the captured, the other friend, and Zoro himself. Wow, that sounds creepy! But it's a really amazing story of adventure and nakama that you need to go read. Like, **right now**. :DDD

Disclaimer:

I do not own One Piece, Pokémon, Monsters, Fei, or Ayumu. BAM, there it is.

Check it out! I put it as an official title anyway!! (It looks so cool right there xBBB) ... Or at least it _would_ if Document Manager **WOULD STOP SCREWING WITH ME!!!**

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**Leaping Worlds! The Guide Known as the King!**

* * *

**"Leap before you think!"**

**~Wandering Artist Issun**

The crew stared at Lin in alarm. Robin glanced curiously at the portal even as the entire group took two steps back.

"Lin-san, are you sure?" Lin nodded.

"I am most definitely sure. The one I was in was smaller, but it still looks the same." Nami blinked.

"Is it to your world? Or somewhere else?"

"How should I know?"

"You're making it seem like you're an expert on this kind of thing!"

"I only know that if that's the sky on the other side, then there are two things I'm sure of: One: I have developed a strong dislike of falling from great heights and would love to not get sucked through again. Two: There's no way in hell that would be the sky to my world. It's too healthy looking! Not even a touch of smog or air pollution!" The crew sweat dropped.

"So if your sky isn't blue, then…?" Usopp muttered.

"Grey-blue. Except when it rains; then it's a nice shade of blue-grey!" Another sweat drop.

"… I'm not sure that's very healthy…" Chopper mumbled.

"Not at all." Zoro coughed.

"Regardless of what's on the other side, we still need to get Luffy. You heard the Jack-in-the-box; we've only got a couple of days before the portal closes."

"The Jack-in-the-box has a name you know!! Idiots!" The crew turned to see Gaimon getting up and teetering over to them. Chopper immediately protested.

"Gaimon! You need to be resting until the poison completely-"

"I'll rest when you guys go after your captain! Is it true?? Did you guys really find One Piece?" Gaimon's eyes shone as he looked up at them. His grin grew ten-fold when the others nodded. "I bet it was amazing, too… I know you guys are going to go after Mugiwara, but there was another guy, and he's working on some project. I think his name was Fei…" Lin blinked.

"Fei?" Robin turned to Lin.

"Another character from a story, Lin-san?"

"Nah. It was just such a unique name I felt the need to repeat it. Fei~"

"ANYWAY, but he knocked out me and Mugiwara using a pencil!" Chopper stared at Gaimon, but then thought about the facts.

"Well, there was an unusually high amount of lead in your blood…"

"Just be careful of him! The marines are working _for_ him, not _with_ him! And they mentioned something about a machine opening the thing in the first place, and over a thousand marines going in there with tranquilizers and what not." Nami patted Gaimon on the top of his bushy head.

"We'll be fine! We'll get Luffy and get out within a few days! All right?" The crew stared at Nami, wondering if she had gone insane. Nami and Usopp were the worry-warts of the crew, hands down. For Nami to immediately say that everything would be fine was like their world being run over by aliens. Nami then turned and said, in a sickly sweet voice,

"The last person through that doorway will be charged a fee of five hundred thousand beri for _every second they are left_!!" The crew immediately scrambled to get into the tent.

That was most definitely Nami. They didn't notice the almost sad look Nami cast the hat before she pulled it down on her own head and followed the tangled crew through the portal, the wall of blue rippling slightly.

* * *

"Where are we going??" Ayumu was running with Luffy, them being chased by a bunch of men wielding swords.

"We're going to find my nakama!" Ayumu slapped her forehead; it was her own fault for not telling him…

"We're not in the same world that you're from, dammit! This is a whole other time line!" … That apparently didn't mean she had to be nice about it.

"… So it's a mystery place." Luffy turned and ran backwards as he stared at Ayumu, who could only groan at his stupidity.

"It means that your nakama aren't here!" Luffy blinked, then turned around and continued running.

"Sure they are! They always follow me! But the whole mystery place would explain why everyone is dressed so weird…"

"That's just their traditional garb! And why are we even running in the first place; I thought you were a pirate!"

"They aren't marines. Why should I fight them? They're all pretty stupid anyway."

The two continued running until Ayumu grabbed Luffy's arm and tugged him down an alley, then continued in a series of complex twists and turns through the streets. Eventually they emerged into an empty street, the sounds of their pursuers having died away a long time ago. Ayumu huffed, resting her hands on her knees.

"That was close…" Luffy raised a hand to his head and scowled slightly.

"I miss my hat. I hope Nami has it…" Ayumu's forehead twitched, but she could only slump in resignation.

"We need to keep moving. I don't know about you, but that Fei…" She shivered. "He may only be a wannabe ninja, but he still gives me the creeps! But I need to get back my pin in order to get back…" Luffy blinked.

"Get back where?"

"My dimension."

"Ohhh, you're from a mystery place! So you're an alien too… I have an alien on my crew you know! Do you know her??" Ayumu's head snapped up at the word 'alien.'

"That's trans-dimensional human you dumbass! … Wait, you don't have any aliens on your crew!" Luffy stared at her as though she were crazy.

"Are you an idiot? I just said I did! Her name's Lin; is she from your mystery place too? She has this mystery mouse…" Ayumu seemed disturbed as Luffy went on, oblivious to the fact that she was no longer paying attention.

"Another crew member? He's not supposed to get another one for a while, if my reading of the timeline is correct. The month after he became the Pirate King; could the alien be the breach that Kai went to investigate…?"

"…And it's a good thing Sanji isn't here, or he'd be really upset that you called Lin that. Nami said that Lin's a girl, even if she is weird." Ayumu slapped her forehead again as she realized what had confused Luffy.

"Oh god… How does your crew put up with you??"

* * *

"How the hell do we put up with Luffy??" The groan came from somewhere around the bottom of the pile of limbs and heads. Nami apparently had reason to be the last through the portal, and she stood on top of the pile of bodies with satisfaction. Robin had somehow escaped such a thing and was standing a few feet from the pile, holding Pika and stroking her. Nami glanced around with a raised eyebrow.

"This is… unexpected." They were in a small closet, with various brooms and mops scattered around. They had not, in fact, landed from too high up; just from the ceiling. Lin groaned from the midst of the pile as they all untangled themselves.

"This is definitely not my world…"

"How can you tell, Lin-san?"

"Prisons aren't taken care of by guys with katana." The crew blinked and turned to where Lin was pointing, where the door to the closet was open and a few men were staring at the crew with their hands on their katana. The crew could just see behind them where there were rows of cells. Robin blinked at them a bit.

"Those aren't marines either…" Then the men began shouting and running down the halls.

"They're proving to be just as troublesome! Let's scoot!" The crew quickly righted themselves and raced down the hall, fending off the guards. The building proved to be a very simple structure, and they soon found themselves in the middle of the street, where they were quite the spectacle. Nami panted as she looked around, hand resting on the strawhat.

"So where would Luffy go…?"

"We can guess where he's been."

"What makes you say that Usopp?" Usopp simply pointed to one of the walls of the building they had just come out of, where a gaping hole was. The crew stared before nodding as one.

"That was definitely Luffy."

"There they are!! Get them!" Nami blinked as a crowd of the guards came after them. She swore.

"We don't have time for this! We need to find Luffy in only a few days! Come on; we're at the edge of some town!" The crew nodded and raced down the street, the band of guards only stopping when they had completely left the town.

* * *

"It's a… good thing… I knew how to run… before meeting you guys…" Lin panted as they came to a stop behind a few hills. The landscape was similar to that around Shimotsuki, with a few trees peeking behind the rolling hills of grass. The crew had cut through the trees and stopped in a small clearing, where the town would be hard-pressed to find them. Nami sighed.

"It would certainly help if we knew where we were. We don't even have any food; and we can't tell if our currency would work here!" Robin held up a hand full of purses.

"Would these help, Nami-chan?" Nami's eyes turned into beri signs as she hugged Robin and snatched the purses all at once.

"I love you O-nee-san~!" She turned back to the crew. "First things first. We need to establish a camp. I think we can safely say that Luffy will be unable to get very far in any direction without help." The crew nodded. Sanji noodled over to Nami.

"I can go shopping for the ingredients for our lunch, Nami-san!" Nami agreed and stated that she would go with him to make sure of their budget.

"I can set up a SUPER camp with some wood from skeleton-bro!" Franky gave Brooke a thumbs up.

"Lin-san and I could find information in the area about where we are." Robin nodded; ignoring Lin's stunned face at being volunteered.

"Zzz…" No points for guessing.

"Zoro has Pika duty, then." Lin went over and placed Pika on top of the sleeping Zoro's head; he didn't even wake up as Pika curled up on his face and fell asleep. The crew stared a moment then quickly shrugged it off; they had work to do. Sanji, Nami, Lin, and Robin then set off in the direction of the town, each splitting into their own groups.

* * *

Fei blinked as he stood at the edge of town. He rubbed his chin as he thought.

"I've searched the entire town… And the guards said that they lost them somewhere around here… Could they have gone to another town?" He shook his head. "Nah, that girl will want her pin back soon. And I still have it, after all."

Sighing, he turned to walk back into town when he noticed a small group of four travelers appear on the road. He blinked.

"Oh, travelers. Can they help? Hm… Maybe…" As they came into view, Fei stared oddly at them.

Wow, and he thought that girl looked weird.

At first he thought that he had found the runaway girl, when one of the travelers had a similar shade of orange hair. But another glance confirmed that it was another girl entirely, with a strawhat sitting on top of her head. Fei blinked a bit oddly at the hat but then shrugged it off.

He could have seen such a hat anywhere. The weirdest things about the group were the man and other, brown-haired girl. The man's eyebrow had a very odd, distinctive curl, while the girl had an odd splash of blonde hair mixed in the brown. Not to mention that the two were dressed in all black, the girl wearing some weird gloves that Fei hadn't thought existed in this timeline.

He quickly gave up on any thoughts of questions or more creative forms of inquiries. Anyone who had the gall to dress like that or have such weird hair obviously didn't get out much. Giving the group one last glance, he briefly met the eyes of the tall, dark-haired woman.

Shrugging off the odd feeling, he then brushed past the group and walked down the road, suddenly thinking of a place where the two might be looking for.

* * *

"Robin, is it really a good idea to go right back in when we just escaped?"

"This is a large town, and Navigator-san and I are fairly inconspicuous."

"And I'm not?"

"No."

"… Oh." Lin looked down at her gloved hands and black attire as she silently admitted to herself that she most definitely did stick out in the throng of brightly-dressed people. "Then why did you have me go along with you?"

"You seem to have heard many stories about different worlds, no? Perhaps you can figure out where we are. Although I do have a theory…" Robin trailed off for a second and Lin looked at her curiously.

"Well?"

"It's only a theory. But I noticed something odd about the man we passed on our way in town." Lin waited for Robin to continue before she sighed and moved on. She blinked as Robin turned another corner. Robin waved her on.

"We can meet up at camp in a bit. I want to check something." Lin watched her walk away before going down another road, pointedly ignoring the stares she got.

The town seemed like a normal town from the One Piece world, with the same dusty roads and the various shops along the street. What was odd was the occasional samurai with their hair done up also traditionally. One of the samurais was even…

… Pressed up against a window?

Curious about the strange behavior, she steered herself so that she was a few feet from the man with dark hair done up in the usual style, his katana shouldered with a small pack tied to it like a traditional runaway. The man seemed almost glued to the glass, and Lin noted with amusement that just inside, there was a couple attempting to eat while ignoring the man. Lin guessed the man was fairly hungry. She also guessed that this was a good opportunity to get some help; samurais were honorable, weren't they? And Sanji would feed any starving men Lin might bring to camp (no matter how awkward that sounded.)

"Excuse me, sir?" The man only twitched in acknowledgement. "I was wondering if you could help me out. I'm kind of… lost, you see. And my friends and I were trying to find our way back home…" The man didn't turn around. Lin sighed at his one-track mind. "I can give you some lunch if you agree to help?" The man turned and was bowing his head at her feet in an instant.

"Thank you, kind madam! I haven't eaten in a week!" The man then lifted his face to Lin, and Lin's jaw dropped as she processed the familiar face. The samurai smiled kindly at Lin with nearly the same exact features of Zoro as he set down his sword, which Lin knew instinctively to be named Shuusui.

"My name's Ryuuma. Might I know the name of my kind savior…?"

* * *

Sanji carefully diced the meal with the knives he had purchased in town. They had a little campfire going on the edge of the camp, and Sanji had to remind himself every few minutes to only prepare enough food for ten people instead of an army.

He then paused and cocked his head as a faint sound reached him.

"… and absolutely no fighting! Can you at least promise me that?"

"Of course, Lin-chan. I can't thank you enough…"

"Just wait here for a bit. I'm not sure I was supposed to bring anyone to the camp."

"Of course."

"… Okay, then." Sanji quickly noodled over to where Lin emerged from the trees.

"Lin-chwan~! I'm glad you've come back~!!" Beside the fire, Robin looked up at Lin.

"Lin-san, did you find everything okay?" Lin nodded, seeming almost nervous.

"Yeah. I think I know where we are, too. I also found a guide, but he's kind of hungry… Could we feed him please?" Sanji nodded eagerly.

"As a cook, mademoiselle, I am always willing to… What??" Sanji nearly tripped as he backed away from the man that emerged. Nami then emerged from the small house-like structure that Franky had built.

"What's this I hear about a guide? He better be cheap and trustworthy, because like hell I am paying a single…" Nami trailed off as she took in the samurai. She turned to Lin, who cleared her throat.

"Um, everyone? This is Ryuuma. He only wants a good meal for his help; please, Sanji?" Sanji shook himself as he stared at the man in front of him, and then looked back to where Zoro was still napping with Pika on his head. He nodded and served up a plate, handing it to Ryuuma.

"… Lin-chan, he looks just like…"

"Yeah. Just like him." Franky walked out of the shelter.

"What's this I hear about a gui…?" Franky pulled off his sunglasses, rubbed them a bit, and then put them back on as he stared at Ryuuma. Ryuuma was far too busy with stuffing his face to notice that the entire crew was slowly emerging and staring at him incredulously. Franky looked back in the shelter.

"Oi, skeleton-bro. You may want to take a look at this." Brooke walked out.

"Oh, a traveling guide? Quite a sight for sore eyes, I must say! But I have no eyes!! SKULL… Joke…" Brooke trailed off as he then took in the samurai's features, at last his gaze traveling to the sword lying near him. "But… That's…"

"Ryuuma." Ryuuma had finished his meal and set aside his plate, then turned and bowing to Lin. "Thank you again for the meal, Lin-chan. I will never forget this debt." Lin blinked slightly.

"Just help us find our friend and we'll call it even. We should be thanking you, after all." Brooke's jaw moved up and down a few times.

"Ryuuma…?!" Ryuuma blinked, turning towards the voice.

"That's my name… Skeleton…??" Ryuuma stared at Brooke oddly for a long while, then sadly shook his head. "The world is a strange place. That's quite sad, you know. I can't imagine losing my flesh and still living on." If Brooke had a face, he would have twitched in hysterics. As it were, he only replied

"… It's not so bad. Perhaps you'd be more open to the idea someday." Brooke laughed slightly, then turned to where Zoro was. "Zoro-san, you may want to see this." Zoro didn't stir.

"Zoro-san?"

"Marimo?"

"Onigiri-sensei?" Ryuuma blinked slightly at Zoro's hair, the only part of his head that was visible, then walked over to Zoro.

"Allow me, Lin-chan." Lin blinked.

"Ah, I don't think that's such a-" But before Lin could finish her protest, Ryuuma had walked over to Zoro and leaned down to shake him…

… And Zoro was immediately awake, and in a blur the two swordsmen had each drawn their sword and were staring each other down, Pika having been catapulted towards Sanji, who went down as though pelted by a cannonball.

Zoro had gotten strange wakeup calls over the past couple of years. When he thought that he sensed a strange swordsman hovering over him, he had immediately drawn the nearest sword, Shuusui, and had gotten up in a flash and pointed the sword at the other man's throat. The other man, however, was just a fast and had drawn his own sword and pointed it at his own throat, signaling an impasse.

That was how Zoro and Ryuuma saw their own faces mirror each other in complete shock as they pointed the exact same sword at each other's throat.

"What the hell?!"

* * *

Ayumu groaned as they traveled down the road. Luffy would not. Stop. Talking. Or asking questions, which she found herself answering despite herself.

"Why are we going to another town again??"

"We're going to find where Fei was working on his project. And then we're going to get back my pin and Kai's pin."

"Why do we need some pins?"

"I told you, it's the only way of getting you back home!"

"Oh yeah! This is a mystery place!"

"Being several hundred years in the past is _not_ a mystery!! Idiot!!"

"I thought you said that you didn't know where we were? Did you lie?"

"…" Ayumu stopped walking for a bit. She stared at Luffy as though pondering over something then shrugged and moved on, apparently deciding not to answer. Luffy began poking her as she walked.

"I got you out of the cage, so you have to answer my question! Did you lie?" Ayumu sighed. She _had_ said that she would, even if it was sarcasm.

"Fine. But this is strictly confidential and must _not_ be repeated; understood??" Luffy nodded. "I'm part of a… group that takes care of the barrier between different dimensions. The pins are used to store both the mission and the coordinates for where we go. About a month ago, my brother, who's part of the same group, went to your world to investigate someone messing around with the main barrier. Kai never came back. When I was called to investigate a breach here, I found that the signal for my brother's pin was in the same place, and I followed it. What I didn't exactly expect was a wannabe ninja with a damned pencil to capture me and take away my pin."

"… So is that a maybe?" Ayumu slapped her forehead; she was going to have a permanent red mark with the way this conversation was going.

"YES, LUFFY, I LIED."

"Ohhh, but at least you told me; that's good!" Luffy slammed a fist into his palm in understanding even as Ayumu looked as though she were wishing for a wall to bang her head against.

* * *

Zoro and Ryuuma jumped back three feet at the same time, still holding out Shuusui. Lin immediately yelled

"Stop!!" In an instant Ryuuma had sheathed his sword and was bowing to Lin.

"My apologies, Lin-chan. I had almost forgotten my promise." He bowed again, and the crew fell flat at his instantaneous reaction. Sanji seemed almost put out as Nami mumbled

"Why can't that work on Sanji and Zoro…?" Sanji immediately followed Ryuuma's example and bowed to Nami.

"My apologies, Nami-san. I can prove that I can do the same thing any swordsman can do~!" Zoro snorted in disbelief.

"Tch, as if." Sanji's eyebrow twitched.

"You don't believe me you damned marimo??"

"No one here does, swirly."

"Why you-!" Sanji threw himself at Zoro and they were fighting in the next moment, Sanji's resolve apparently completely forgotten. Meanwhile the girls were looking at Ryuuma, who was watching the fight oddly.

"Where'd you find him anyway?" Lin shrugged.

"He was pressed up against the glass of some restaurant. I think the couple he was watching eat was pretty grateful."

"His resemblance to Swordsman-san is uncanny…"

"You know, I'm pretty sure I mentioned that he looked a lot like Zoro; I'm flattered that you pay such careful attention to my words. And I also said that they could be related."

"But where would the green hair come from, then?"

"It could be some hidden recessive trait."

"I once asked Swordsman-san about that; apparently everyone on his father's side of the family has green hair."

"… Well… There's still quite a bit of time for any descendant of Ryuuma's to find some green-haired chick. Or maybe even Ryuuma?"

"True." Nami shook her head at the pointless conversation.

"Regardless of Zoro's heritage, _again_, can he really help us?" Lin nodded.

"He's a traveling samurai, remember? I'm pretty sure that he's been in a bunch of places. Even if he is crappy at getting his next meal." Finally Franky managed to break up Zoro and Sanji's fight as Usopp and Chopper returned from the surrounding trees.

"Mina!! We've found some berries that Chopper says are okay… to… eat…?!" Usopp trailed off and dropped the small bag he was carrying as he took in Ryuuma. He immediately hid behind Zoro, trembling. Chopper clung to Zoro's head.

"Z-Zoro… Why do you have a twin…?" Zoro grumbled as he tried to pull off Chopper.

"He's not my damned twin! Get off!" Usopp nodded as he stared at Ryuuma, who stared right back.

"Obviously Zoro has an evil doppelganger in this strange world. Did I ever mention the time I had to learn the secret of expelling evil twins when my own went on a rampage in a nearby kingdom?"

"E-Evil twin?! How do you make them go away, Usopp??"

"Well, you just clap your hands together and repeat this sacred chant with the sacred point: Om nom wo way…" The girls sighed as the two continued, Chopper soon picking up the chant and them pointing in a very Spiderman-like way at Ryuuma. Ryuuma walked over to Lin.

"… Are there any more friends that I should know about? This is a very… varied group…" Lin tapped her chin as she thought.

"Well, you've met Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Robin, Brooke, Franky, Chopper, Usopp, and Pika. All you need to meet is the captain; our missing friend." Ryuuma nodded, then blinked.

"Your captain? Are you sailors?"

"… Something like that."

"The ocean is far away…"

"REGARDLESS, we still need to find Luffy. He was kidnapped by some weirdo with a pencil and was put in the town's jail. We're pretty sure he escaped, though." Ryuuma blinked.

"Oh, so you're looking for the kid that was traveling with that other girl? The one that made a giant hole in the prison?" Everyone blinked.

"Another girl?" Ryuuma nodded.

"They were last seen heading to another town that's just about a day's walk away from here. I have a friend there that owes me a favor; we can head over there and start searching." The crew turned to Nami; ultimately, she was the one that decided where to go, after all. Nami sighed and nodded.

"Let's head over there, then." Ryuuma grinned.

"Great! Flare-chan has an amazing restaurant. I was considering heading over there soon, anyway."

* * *

The crew had packed away their camp within five minutes, and in two more minutes there was no sign of anyone having been there at all. Luck had favored them to camp near the road that led to the town Ryuuma was taking them to, and the crew bemoaned the fact that Luffy had most likely ran right past them.

Robin and Nami walked beside Lin, who was patting Pika fondly. Nami blinked as the group followed Ryuuma, who was walking at the head of them.

"Lin, are you _sure_ we can trust him?" Lin sighed; didn't anyone listen to her??

"Of course I'm sure! He has a great 'Warrior's Soul' after all!" Nami looked at Lin oddly.

"What about his soul, now?" Robin smiled.

"A 'Warrior's Soul' was the term to describe great people who spent their entire lives following a samurai's conduct. And samurais had a very strict code in debt."

"That's right!" Nami and Lin jumped as Ryuuma stood beside Robin, raising his finger as though teaching a class with a serious expression. "Debt is one's master, after all! The spirit to spend one's life to repay one's debt is the way of life for a swordsman! Without repaying debt, a swordsman… no, a _person_ has no worth!" Nami blinked, then glanced at Zoro as she muttered

"That's certainly true about Zoro… At the rate he's paying me back, it'll take his entire life to repay his debt." Ryuuma stared oddly first at Nami then at Zoro before returning to the front of the group. Nami turned back to Lin.

"So that's why you knew he would agree for only a meal?" Lin nodded.

"Yeah. Apparently he hadn't eaten in a week. It's too bad that there are only a handful of people like that in your world. But it's worse that there's even less in mine. Usually when you feed someone like that and take them home, you wake up the next day missing your flat screen and I-pod. …Never mind." She added at the confused looks on their faces. "The point is, if more people had a code like the King, the world would probably be a much better place." Ryuuma paused in his leading and turned back towards the group at hearing 'The King'. He blinked and called back.

"Lin-chan?"

"… Yes?"

"What do you know about the King?" Lin suddenly realized her mistake. Mentioning the King in Ryuuma's presence was like mentioning Hawk-eyes in Zoro's presence. Before he had beaten him, anyway. Lin gulped slightly now that everyone had turned to her.

"Only that he's supposed to be a great swordsman. Why?" The crew looked at Lin in confusion, Usopp voicing their question.

"But Lin, didn't you say that _Ryuuma_ was called- Oomph!" Lin immediately dashed over to Usopp and slapped her hand over his mouth as Ryuuma answered.

"I've been hoping to find him for a while, now. I heard that he's got an amazing 'Warrior's Soul.' But when I ask people about him, all that they say is that he goes from town to town helping others and then disappears just as quickly. No one really has a face for the name…" Ryuuma trailed off as he walked on. Lin released Usopp and he glared at her. She quickly whispered.

"Ryuuma doesn't know that he's called that. The rumors of his own deeds reach him only by the name 'King' and he doesn't realize that he's looking for himself. He's trying to become the greatest, like Zoro did." Usopp made a small 'o' with his mouth as he realized what was wrong.

"So he's trying to find the King, who's actually supposed to be the Greatest Swordsman in the World." Lin nodded.

"He just doesn't realize that he already has that title. He _is_ the greatest, and that's why I didn't want him to fight around here! If he found out that Zoro has that title in another world…"

"And he doesn't know that we're from another world."

"If he found that Zoro had that title at all, he would automatically assume that Zoro was the King. And if Zoro found out that Ryuuma is considered the greatest, then he'd want a fight too! The last thing we need is a fight between the two Greatest Swordsmen. Especially if we're looking for Luffy! Can you make sure that everyone else gets that into their heads?" Usopp nodded and rushed over to Chopper as he began explaining in the little reindeer's ear.

Lin walked back to Robin and Nami; Robin had apparently heard Lin's reasoning and had just finished explaining to Nami, who nodded in approval at Lin's logic.

"Good thinking Lin. I've just cut back on your weekly interest for that foresight!" Lin knew that such a thing was beyond generous for Nami, but even so all that she could force herself to have was a half-smile and a simple

"Thank you, Nami."

* * *

Zoro watched as Lin backed away from Usopp and retreated to the other girls, whom were also whispering about something. Zoro was a man that trusted his highly-developed instincts, and even if he didn't believe his instincts that were practically yelling that they were talking about him, then the occasional glances they shot him were more than enough proof.

But then they would look at the other swordsman with the same wary gaze that made the two exchange confused glances. Ryuuma was, freaky similarities in appearance aside, a man that Zoro could get along with. Zoro knew that Ryuuma was strong, perhaps even as strong as himself. While normally he would challenge any man that he thought was near his level (especially now that he had his title to uphold) he wasn't stupid in that sense.

He knew better than to attempt to usurp who he instinctively knew to be the Greatest Swordsman in the World. In his own world, though, Zoro thought wryly to himself. Zoro may have dedicated himself to being the strongest of any swordsman he met, but he knew that a duel with a man from another timeline was not intended to happen.

And Zoro believed in Fate, however damning or cruel it could be. He knew it was his own fate to be the Greatest Swordsman; one of the reasons he could rely on his own luck with such an iron will. Just like he knew it was Luffy's fate to become the Pirate King.

And it was not either his nor Ryuuma's fate to fight for at least a few more centuries.

Beside him, Brooke seemed almost as tense as the atmosphere behind him, though whatever they were whispering about hadn't reached him yet. Zoro glanced at him and noted that he directly avoided looking at Ryuuma, who seemed almost oblivious to the silent commotion behind him. Brooke sensed Zoro's gaze on him and looked back at him.

Zoro raised an eyebrow, and Brooke shrugged at the unspoken question.

"I suppose I can see how he felt." Sanji, who was walking behind the two, blinked and turned to Brooke.

"How who felt?" Zoro ignored him as he answered.

"If anything, he should have felt it an honor." If Brooke had a face, Zoro thought, he might have been smiling wryly.

"And yet it somehow felt like casting on him a great shame. You can see it too, can't you?" Zoro simply nodded. Sanji seemed quite put out at being left out.

"See what??" Zoro continued on.

"Plain as day that it matches even me. You should feel honored; at least he wasn't really there to feel any shame." Brooke nodded slowly.

"I suppose I've developed a bit of a respect for a man's corpse though; for reasons quite obvious. He was nonetheless represented by that, and the strength was completely unmatched. Nay, Zoro-san. I feel nothing but shame. Humbled at such an insight, but shamed at the realization." Sanji's brow twitched.

"Will someone tell me what's going on?!" Zoro turned and blinked lazily at Sanji, as though just realizing he was right behind them. He waved a hand as he turned back to the front.

"Don't know what the hell you're talking about, dart brow." It was satisfying to Zoro to see Sanji fume and sputter in indignation.

Because while Zoro had… would… fight Ryuuma's zombie, as far as anyone was concerned, the shame from Brooke's shadow's unmatched strength had never existed in his eyes.

If anything, that was reason enough to ignore his own honor at such a duel with Ryuuma the King, fate be damned.

* * *

The second that the two had reached the town, Luffy had raced ahead shouting about food. Ayumu didn't even have the drive to speed up; she now fully understood why it took an entire crew to watch over their captain.

Ayumu had been briefed on the Pirate King's world long ago, back when both she and Kai had been assigned to his world. It was especially a nightmare when he first started his journey; breaches appeared all over the place and the two siblings had had to send each and every one of them home; and she didn't give a care about their troubled pasts, or their apparent destiny in joining the Strawhat Pirates.

It had been, and still was, her job to send them home. It was the whole purpose of their organization, to restore balance in the different worlds and keep the dimensions from blending together. Especially from the main barrier.

Timing was the key, which was precisely why when the alarm had gone off at a deliberate barrier breach, the coordinates had been instantly input into Kai's pin and he had been sent to the source immediately. The process of the breach being sent back and memories erased was generally simple, so it was most definitely alarming when he hadn't come back or report within ten minutes.

And then ten hours.

And then ten days. By then Ayumu had been captured, and she was quite worried when she found that someone else had found the secret of traversing dimensions. Using their own technology, Ayumu knew that no dimension was safe.

And if they ever managed to completely open the main barrier, all hell would break loose. Literally.

Ayumu finally trudged to the restaurant in town and sighed as she saw Luffy sitting in the booth already, eating as fast as he could stuff his rubbery face. The waitress stared at Luffy in something akin to horror. She looked up as Ayumu came in.

"Do you know this man?" Ayumu nodded reluctantly. "Can you pay for him? He just sat down at one of the tables, and then he scared off all of the customers and started eating…" Ayumu blinked. When sent to a dimension, she was only expected to be about ten minutes, tops. That was barely enough time to finish a mission, let alone go shopping with any provided currency. If she had known she would be so long, she could have sent a report that she would be a few days by her pin, and then she might have gotten any necessary supplies for her stay.

She hadn't though, and she didn't. Ayumu shook her head.

"Sorry, ma'am. We don't have anything. I can try to stop him, at the very least…" The waitress nodded in gratitude. Ayumu then walked over to Luffy and attempted to tug on his arm.

"Come on, brat. We need to keep moving on." Luffy looked up at Ayumu with wide eyes.

"But I've barely eaten anything!"

"And I've eaten nothing! Do you want to find your nakama or not??" Luffy sighed as he set down his food.

"Yes…"

"Good. Now let's go; I want to find Fei's mountain headquarters before tomorrow." Even as Luffy slumped over and walked away, Ayumu quickly crammed the last of the leftovers in her mouth and nodded to the waitress, who smiled back.

Luffy groaned as they walked out the other side of the town.

"Sometimes my crew is just so troublesome!"

* * *

Ryuuma turned and grinned at the crew as the town appeared on the horizon.

"We're here!" He turned back to the town and grinned as he unshouldered his katana, restrapping it to his belt. "Man, it's been a while since I was here! Almost what, a few years? Let's go eat; I'm starved!" The entire crew turned out to be hungry, and Ryuuma quickly led them to a restaurant in the center of the town.

Lin stood incredulously at the door of the restaurant as the rest of the crew went in. Robin looked back. "Lin-san? Daijoubu?"

"This is…"

"From the story?" Lin nodded.

"This is the town that was attacked by the dragon. Look, and there's the… waitress…" Lin's jaw dropped as a girl walked up to Ryuuma, smiling at him.

"Ryuuma; welcome back!" Ryuuma grinned.

"Flare-chan, you appear to be in good health. It's nice to see you again." The girls all stared at Flare as she beamed at Ryuuma.

She had the exact same shade of green hair as Zoro. A longer length, and perhaps a lot less messy, but it was still the same hair. The crew looked between Ryuuma and Flare as though watching a Ping Pong ball match, then turned and stared at Zoro, who hadn't even given the girl a glance. Zoro stared back at them.

"What?" Sanji simply took a puff on his cigarette and shook his head.

"Nothing." Lin glanced back at Nami and Robin.

"I should have placed bets."

"As if I'd let you."

* * *

The crew was all seated in the booth as Flare served them. Lin looked around curiously.

"So why's the restaurant so empty?" Flare made a slight face.

"There was a young man in here earlier, and he terrified the customers with his eating habits and odd abilities…" The crew sat up with a start as Ryuuma stared at Flare.

"What kind of odd abilities?" Flare shook her head.

"I'm still not sure if I was hallucinating, but his limbs stretched as though made of rubber…"

"Where did he go?" Flare and Ryuuma blinked to see the entire crew standing.

"He and his friend left town a while ago. Do you know him?" Nami sighed and nodded.

"That was our captain." Ryuuma blinked oddly.

"Your captain has rubber limbs?" The crew simply wolfed down the rest of their food as Robin turned to Flare.

"Did they mention where they were going?" Flare nodded.

"The girl mentioned something about finding some Fei's mountain hideout…" Lin blinked as she picked up on the name.

"Fei? That's the guy that kidnapped him in the first place, right?" Franky scratched his head.

"So she's leading Mugiwara right back into a trap? Poor kid; but he would go right along if she knew what to say. He must have escaped Fei, and then he could have sent the girl to lure him back." Everyone nodded grimly. Lin blinked.

"So… we just have to find the mountain hideout?"

"That's the idea."

"Which mountain? There's a whole chain of the big-ass rocks, you know." The crew blinked and looked out the indicated window, where there were indeed quite a few mountains. Ryuuma finally spoke up.

"Only one of those mountains is suitable for anything hidden; Dragon's Peak. No one is really sure what goes on up there…" Usopp blinked.

"Because no one bothered to explore it? I, myself, happen to be a top-class explorer…" Ryuuma shook his head as he continued.

"No one's managed to come back alive. Everyone just named it Dragon's Peak because it's where many fable to be the breeding place and home of dragons." Usopp immediately began shaking.

"S-Sorry guys, I've got this 'Can't-Go-Searching-For-Luffy-Around-Dragons disease.' It's quite lethal unless the proper cure is found… Far, far away from Dragon's Peak." Usopp finished with a flourish, only to find that no one was paying attention. Flare had smiled at the group as she looked fondly at Ryuuma.

"There's no need to worry about dragons with Ryuuma around. After all, he had taken down the dragon that invaded here years ago with only a single stroke!" Ryuuma simply shrugged as the crew looked first at him, then back at Zoro. (Zoro was becoming quite irritated at the looks people were giving him; why did they seem as though they expected him to do something stupid?!)

"It was no problem, Flare-chan. It was the least I could do in my debt." Flare nodded slightly.

"Either way, the town is still very grateful. But…" Flare hesitated. "Be careful, anyway. You can visit back anytime you want; I can guarantee a free meal for you whenever." Ryuuma grinned back as he followed the last of the crewmembers out the door.

"I'll hold you to that."

* * *

Luffy pouted as he was dragged by Ayumu up the mountain. Why did he have to follow her, anyway?? After he had stated his question, Ayumu simply sighed.

"Because you don't belong here; and if you were telling the truth about that alien, then neither does she!" Luffy blinked.

"Of course not! We need to get back to the Thousand Sunny, after all! This place doesn't have any oceans…"

"That's not the point! You are _not _supposed to be several centuries before your time! You are _not_ supposed to have an alien on your crew! You are _not_ supposed to have some sort of mystery mouse either! It'll be best for everyone if everyone simply goes home!" Ayumu attempted to tug again on Luffy's arm, but suddenly found that he seemed almost glued to the floor, staring at Ayumu with blank eyes.

"… Why?" Ayumu blinked, he almost seemed serious.

"Because some people belong in their own world! You can't pick up someone from another dimension, stick them on a boat, and tell them that they can't go back! It's not only considered kidnapping, it disturbs any balance that your own dimension has left!" Luffy reached up for his hat, but then remembered that he didn't have it. He still stared at Ayumu.

"… But what about you?" Ayumu stood back as though she had been slapped. She attempted a snort and plowed through the trees again, grabbing Luffy's arm.

"I'm different. I'm _supposed_ to be here, and it's my job to _fix_ the balance. When I find my brother and do my job, I'll go back home with him. Now come on; I was captured somewhere around here, so we must be getting close."

Unbeknownst to the two, a figure stood on top of a far off rock formation with a pair of binoculars in his hands. Fei lowered the binoculars with a smirk as he shook his head sadly at how predictable they were.

"Found you."

* * *

XDDDDD Because the comic was in black and white, you guys can't prove me wrong when I say that Flare has marimo hair. Why did I do such a thing? It appealed to me greatly. :D

Just in case I didn't put it clearly, the crew is now in the Monsters world. In an SBS question, the zombie named Ryuuma that Zoro fought and the Ryuuma from Monsters were confirmed to be the same people, so that's considered canon in my book. Just several hundred years apart. :D

I don't like this chapter at all, I need to tell you that. But for some reason I just couldn't find another way to write this! Plus I need to actually _start_ my research essay; it's due in a week. DDD8

If the thing with Zoro and Ryuuma is confusing… No, that's not an 'if,' the whole thing is freakishly confusing. Just try to ignore it, I suppose? Or you may find it vital; you never know. :3

Special thanks to Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, allycat18, eternitybeckons, silverstar94, Hellyeah13-04, amyismynamey, Sama-Bama, and Mistakes13 for reviewing this week! I would attempt another noodle dance, but my doctor said that it's bad for my spleen. However silly and useless that organ is…

**Next time on Horizons: Heroes collide and **_**ninja assault**_**!! The hell?! You think I'm joking… But that's what happens when you put the three greatest kings of history, the Second Pirate King, the Dragon King, and Ryuuma the King, all on the same mountain.**

IF THAT AIN'T FLASHY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT!!! Just an experiment of mine, that last bit. Should I keep putting in a 'Next time on Horizons' section? Let me know.

Please review; they make me a better writer, encourage me to continue, and stop global warming~!

… So that last one was a lie, PLEASE DON'T SUE ME.

PS: Oh yeah! Be sure to look at another story that I'm typing in my spare time! It takes a while for me to type anyway, and Horizons is still my number one priority with the weekly updates, and I'm only updating it whenever I feel like it… But still. Check out this summary, and then go and read the only two chapters it has if you have time:

**Arabian Nights**

**When Arabian prince Monkey D. Luffy ran away from the palace to escape palace traditions, he had no idea that escaping the country would be such a hassle! After being kidnapped by the rebel army and sent to find a dusty old lamp in exchange for a ship, Luffy is betrayed by head rebel Arlong and trapped in the cave with the grumpy-ass genie, Roronoa Zoro! Together the two take the adventure of crossing the desert towards freedom, meeting street rat Usopp, ultimate cuisine chef Sanji, and rebel spy Nami! But Arlong is not the kind of person who would let the green-haired key to overrunning the sultan of the East Blue kingdom escape so easily... Inspired by the Disney movie, Aladdin. And then unraveled and screwed ten times over. **_**And no romance in it at all.**_

It's a story that actually has an ending, though. Not like this one.** And it only features the East Blue characters!**

I need to stop watching Disney movies (pfft, yeah right) because they give me such crazy ideas. The story won't be a weekly thing, or barely even a monthly thing, and the chapters most likely won't be as long. I'm not _that_ much of a masochist. It's just a side project that kept poking me with a very long, sharp stick. **THAT HURTS, BY THE WAY**. But there is something addicting about writing an AU... Very addicting. 8DDD


	16. Kings

**URG STUPID DOCUMENT MANAGER! IT MAKES ALL OF MY SENTENCE PUNCTUATION INADEQUATE! Feel free to add the necessary additional punctuation in your mind. :D**

Haaa, back to Horizons then! I had fun camping and all, but I also do love just being home, you know?

Okay, in this chapter I'm finally going to establish which chapter Lin was at before she got sucked through the portal. I DECLARE IT TO BE… CHAPTER 576. Because after reading the last few chapters (which made me feel bad that I didn't include Dadan back in the Dawn Island arc, even if I hold firm to the belief that she will make an appearance sooner or later and I really had no knowledge of her then) I realized that if I were to pick out a chapter that Lin had just read, it would be the death of Whitebeard. Because it's just after the two major deaths so that she knows better to bring up Ace or Whitebeard in front of the crew, and just before Luffy's past is revealed.

Plus we have yet to see anything about the future of the (adorable) Sabo, and if Lin knew about the little guy then she would be curious and ask about him in a roundabout manner (I know I'd be dying to know). I CAN'T MAKE THEM ANSWER PROPERLY NOW, CAN I? So just 576. Five hundred seventy six. DLXXVI. Etcetera, etcetera…

In this week's semi advertisement semi credit corner, I actually… read _a lot_ of fanfics. Oo;; Usually I only have time for a few, but I set up a community and went searching for a bunch of fanfics for it. So I highly recommend that you go and look at them, because they are all high quality pieces of work that have a lot of heart put into them! … Except Arabian Nights, which is by me; that one's a half-assed attempt to get out some (amusing to me) random idea of Zoro being crammed in a lamp as a genie. Don't get me wrong, it's still completely planned out and all, but I didn't do much research on the middle east at all…

Moving on! The community is about AU (alternate universes), little things changed at the beginning (like if Luffy had discovered Haki when Shanks was there) or even back in time fics (if Luffy had started his quest over _after_ he became the Pirate King) with **no yaoi or yuri**! Well, there is a _tiny_ hint of SmoLu in one of them, but it's so minuscule I would feel bad for not including the story for something that requires glasses to actually see. You'd be surprised at how hard it is to find an AU fic without romance; it's almost like some kind of blasphemy. But I digress.

Actually the fic that really made me want to type wasn't even in the One Piece category! Lately I've felt like I've been inputting Pika as no more than a cute pet that doesn't really do anything and has no character depth, so I went hunting for some good fics about the pokémon partnership. My brain leaked out my ears at how many AshxPikachu fics there were… But I found a nice AU that fit so well that I have to give them credit for putting forth the ideas that I needed for this chapter! It may be unethical to put advertisement for a Pokémon fanfic here, but I have to be completely honest about what fic inspired which chapter, don't I? It's called 'The Rookie's Handbook to Conspiracy Theory' by purple-drake.

This is an AU about a soldier named Lieutenant Surge (but as I haven't seen the anime in years, I know nothing about his character) in a war in modern times, stumbles upon a yellow half-starved rat/rabbit hybrid (hint hint) that takes to the man immediately after being fed. While having some problems with the odd electricity-generating mutant, Surge bonds with it and learns of a whole other world of odd mutants, described by the mysterious man Surge meets many months later as 'Pokémon'… It's actually only got two chapters, but _wow_, and I mean _wow_. I give full credit to purple-drake for the idea of 'other-worldly regulations' when it comes to bonds between pokémon and people, and the rules it would entail for those that have the authority to travel to different dimensions and such.

Anyway, this chapter isn't nearly as great as I said it would be last chapter; and if/when you guys are disappointed I sincerely apologize. I really barely finished this today though, even as I'm going on an Arabian Nights writing streak.

Did you know that I got nine reviews for Arabian Nights within 24 hours of posting the latest chapter? That story has a lot more instantaneous feedback than this story, and it's only got six chapters! Oh wellz. :P I still promised I'd update this fic, so update it I shall!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, Pokémon, Monsters, Fei, or Ayumu. BAM.

Before you read this chapter, just remember that I will not have romance in this story. Why mention this now? Well, you have to read on, silly! Plus since the Document Manager has FAILED me in lines, I put in some bubbled as lines instead. Go me.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"**There can be no failure to a man who has not lost his courage, his character, his self-respect, or his self-confidence. He is still a King."**

**~Orison Swett Marden**

Ryuuma glanced back to the group following him, once again reminding himself that this wasn't one of those crazy dreams one gets after too much sugar.

Although they were certainly weird enough for that.

Sure, he was in Lin's debt for the food, and he would never even _consider_ going back on their deal, but these people were just… He glanced back again, watching the small reindeer (or was it a tanuki?) converse with the man with an abnormally long nose. The other man with a swirly eyebrow was arguing one-sidedly with the odd look-alike with green hair, who was ignoring him and talking to the living skeleton. The younger girls were in the back, chatting, Lin with the large yellow mouse/rabbit on her head, and the more mature woman was talking with the odd man lacking any pants. Not to mention the bulbous arms and odd metal nose.

If these were only the crew, Ryuuma wasn't sure he wanted to know what the captain was like. There was one thing he couldn't understand about them, though. Many things, in fact, but one that stood out above the rest. Their strength.

Ryuuma could assess strength by simply looking at a person; not that strength mattered unless they were honorable. And this crew was composed of some of the most powerful people he had ever seen, even including the whiny long nose and talking reindeer; something he could have never guessed by when he had first met Lin. The most powerful of them all without a doubt, though, was the green-haired swordsman. Ryuuma knew that Zoro was a man not to be trifled with, matching even his own strength, and in a way the entire crew seemed to look up to him.

Ryuuma wondered idly if they were lying about searching for their captain and Zoro was simply the captain. But these seemed like honorable people to him, despite their odd behavior, and he couldn't think of a good reason for them to lie about such a thing.

"Ryuuma-san? Are we almost there?" Ryuuma blinked and noticed that the raven-haired woman was standing behind him. He looked back, still moving forward.

"Yes, we should arrive near the peak in about an hour." Robin smiled.

"Thank you for leading us. But I have another question. Is it true that you once fought a man named D.R.?" Ryuuma hmmed as he thought, fiddling with the hilt of his katana. That was another odd thing about the group; the swordsman had an exact replica of Shuusui, and yet had seemed so offended when it was referred to as a 'replica'… But there was only one Shuusui in the world; that much he knew. Ryuuma shook his head.

"Not that I can remember. What did he look like?" The woman indicated her own eyes as she spoke.

"He was a man wearing a long cape and had two letters tattooed over his eyes, 'D' and 'R'." The description seemed to ring a bell in Ryuuma's memory.

"That seems somewhat familiar, but…"

"Very well then, have you heard of a Dragon's Horn?" Ryuuma paused in his walking momentarily, stared oddly at the woman (Robin, wasn't it?) and then continued before the group had even noticed.

"When you bring that up; yes. The town we were in was once invaded by two men, Shirano and the one you described. That man had a Dragon's Horn, and used it to attack the town. How did you know about D.R.?" Robin smiled in a mysterious way.

"He attacked Swordsman-san's dojo using a Dragon Horn; this particular one, I believe." And then Robin reached into her bag and pulled out the Horn that Ryuuma only remembered in distant memories. Ryuuma stared openly at the horn, coming to a full stop.

"Where did you get _that_?"

"As I said, a man named D.R. attacked us with this. What was odd about the attack was that it was in a country far, far from here; a distance that is normally inaccessible to people on dragon back." Ryuuma blinked oddly at them.

"Well, I suppose if it's accessible by sea, then it is by dragon. You guys sailed quite a bit, haven't you? But dragons are fabled to go around the entire world." Robin didn't seem sure of his answer, despite his conviction.

"Nonetheless… If it was a place unreached by dragons for many centuries, have there been any odd occurrences around here to change such a thing?" Ryuuma blinked.

"Actually, there has been something weird going on around these very parts. That prison your captain broke out of, for example. Men dressed in uniforms almost as… out of place as your own clothing have been pouring out of that place, and no one even knows where they came from. They had all this odd equipment and would leave town directly from the prison. The entire town was actually evacuated soon after, and was blocked off for a few weeks. I only heard this from some villagers, though, so it could be inaccurate."

"Uniforms?" Ryuuma turned to where Lin was listening and nodded.

"That is correct, Lin-chan." Lin shared a troubled look with Robin, then turned back to Ryuuma.

"What were their symbols?"

"Symbols?"

"You know, an insignia? A coat of arms? Flag? Brand?" Ryuuma gave a nod as she continued.

"I see. They had an odd sort of blue seagull on their hats, as I've heard. I couldn't describe the rest of them, but…" But Lin and Robin had already turned to the crew. Robin cleared her throat.

"Mina, we have a problem." The crew stopped, looking at Robin curiously. Robin continued "It appears that the dragon's relocation was carried out by the marines from this very place." Nami swore as the crew gave various reactions.

"But Nee-san, that's not possible! Time travel is absolutely ridiculous!" Lin opened her mouth to speak but Nami then glared at her and snapped "And I realize that what I just said is illogical! It's still ridiculous!" Lin closed her mouth. Franky shrugged.

"So? We've dealt with them before, and we can handle any new tricks they dish out." Robin still seemed troubled.

"This isn't the only place in our history filled with mythical beings, Franky-san. There are many assets now available to whoever did this now that the entire timeline has been compromised." Usopp blinked.

"Whoever? It was the World Government, wasn't it?" Robin shook her head.

"While supported by the marines, I have reason to believe that there is another party involved. Lin-san, do you remember that man who we saw when we first walked into town?" Lin scrunched up her forehead as she tried to remember.

"… The one with the pencil behind his ear?" Robin nodded, and a light bulb went off over Lin's head. "A pencil!"

"Exactly. Pencils were not invented in this time; only quill pens and ink." That was when Ryuuma decided that he was very, very left out of the conversation. He held up his hands and they all turned to him.

"Okay, okay, please explain. World Governments? Timelines? Pencils? Where are you guys from?" The crew looked at him oddly, and then turned to Lin. She flinched at the attention.

"What?" Nami sighed.

"_You_ brought him here; he's in _your_ debt. Now _you_ have to answer him." Lin twitched, and then turned to Ryuuma nervously.

"… From a mystery place?" Ryuuma blinked exactly five times, then shrugged and nodded, bowing to Lin.

"Thank you, Lin-chan. That will do nicely." The crew behind Lin facevaulted as she muttered to herself in disbelief.

"Zoro and Luffy must be distant cousins."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"Are we there yet?" Ayumu's eye twitched as she resisted the urge to strangle the rubber man beside her.

"_No_, Luffy, we are _not_ there yet. We are approximately two hundred feet closer than the last time you asked, though."

"That's good. I can't wait to find my nakama! Why are they up in this mountain anyway?" Ayumu blinked; she hadn't been expecting that. She turned to Luffy incredulously.

"… You do realize that we're not looking for your crew, right? I'm looking for a way to get you home." Luffy stopped and stared at Ayumu.

"… My nakama aren't here?"

"No."

"… So why am I following _you_? We're going the wrong way!" Luffy turned and began walking back down the mountain, making Ayumu curse as she realized her mistake. She began running after him.

"No Luffy! I need to keep an eye on you! I'm trying to get you back home, dammit!"

"I need to find my nakama first!"

"Your nakama aren't here!"

"I told you they were, so why do you keep saying that? That's stupid!"

"Your nakama are back home, waiting for you! I need to get you back there _now_!"

"I can't go home without my nakama!"

"WHAT ABOUT YOUR NAKAMA NOT BEING HERE IS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND?"

"… The fact that we're right here?" Ayumu stepped out from a tree and gaped to see the entire Straw Hat crew standing with Luffy, who was cheering.

"You guys! I found you~!" Nami twitched as she slowly removed the hat and handed it to Robin.

"No, Luffy, _we_ found _you_. _Again_." Luffy seemed nervous at the tone in her voice as she slowly advanced on him. "After you were carried off by a _bird_, of all things, knocked out by a _pencil_, of all things, and **dragged right into another **_**timeline**_**, of all things!**" At the last bit Nami began pummeling the poor captain into oblivion, making the entire crew take a few steps back.

Ayumu collapsed to her knees and began clutching at her head, wailing.

"Why? This isn't even my post! Why must I have to transport _every freaking Straw Hat_ on top of all of this? This isn't humane!" The crew turned back to her, sweat dropping. Then Franky stepped forward, a dangerous look in his eyes.

"Yes, about that. Where exactly were you taking our captain, eh girly?" Franky and Zoro then stepped forward, Zoro slowly drawing a blade. Ayumu gulped and stood quickly, holding up her hands.

"N-Now guys, I know that this looks really, really bad… But I wasn't trying to trick or kidnap your captain or anything, I swear! I was just trying to get him home!" Sanji jumped up and kicked both Franky and Zoro in the head then, taking up Ayumu's hand in his own.

"Of course we believe you, miss! Might I say, you are like a sun; a sun that has blessed my dark, cold planet with your beautiful rays of-" Nami walked up and slammed down Sanji's head.

"Sanji; now is not the time for this! First of all, who the hell are you?" Ayumu knew instantly that while the captain and first mate were down, Nami was the one in charge.

"A-Ayumu. Ayumu Sugiura." Nami nodded, still glaring. Somewhere nearby was the crime scene for a potential murder of the pirate captain, so Ayumu was definitely on her own.

"Now then, Ayumu, where were you taking Luffy?"

"… Okay, this is going to sound really, really bad; but I'm not trying to do anything that would be harmful to you guys and I'm not some sort of spy or-"

"Just answer the question!"

"… To Fei's hideout." Franky glared at her.

"Fei? As in the guy that the bushhead-bro said kidnapped Mugiwara in the first place?"

"… Yes?" When Nami's eyes began to grow very, very angry, Ayumu quickly added "But if it's any consolation, he kidnapped me too! Luffy was the one that broke me out, and he took my stuff!"

"So why would you take him with you?"

"Because it's my job to take care of people from different dimensions!" The whole crew paused at this one, making Ayumu wonder if she had said something wrong. Nami stared at Ayumu for a long second, then turned and nodded at Zoro.

"Go get Lin; she may want to hear this too."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Lin sweat dropped as Ryuuma bowed again. When the crew had heard Luffy arguing with another person, she had been told to tell Ryuuma that they no longer needed him while they went up ahead. Lin thought that they were suspecting a fight, and scowled only slightly before reminding herself, yet again, that she would be a liability in a real fight.

So Lin was going to finish her meager job of getting rid of the overly-nice man, even if it killed her.

"Really, Ryuuma, that's all we wanted. We found Luffy, and the kidnapper should be taken care of by now."

"Are you sure you will all be fine? I feel as though my services were inadequate…"

"Trust me; you did a very adequate service for us. Right, Pika?"

"Pikachu."

"… I think Pika agrees."

"Oi, Lin." Lin blinked, turning to where Zoro was coming up.

"Ah, Onigiri-sensei. Are we all good?" Zoro simply jammed a thumb back over his shoulder.

"The witch wants you to come." Lin blinked and then started to follow, picking up Pika from beside her. Ryuuma began following until Lin turned and said

"I mean it Ryuuma! I swear I consider any and all debt completely paid off! I don't think you even _know_ the meaning of interest, do you?"

"Interest?"

"Exactly! So there is no interest in this agreement!"

"… Are you-?"

"YES."

"… Okay then, farewell!" Ryuuma gave a wave and turned back down the mountain, leaving Lin to sigh in relief.

"Far too nice. I think you get your attitude from Flare's side of the family, Zoro.

"Shut it!"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

If Ayumu had any doubts that the person Zoro was bringing was the supposed alien she had heard about, they were cleared the moment Lin stepped into view.

At first Ayumu thought that she was definitely from the main barrier; not many other dimensions were fond of such odd dye jobs along with so much black. But then she got a good look at what the girl was holding in her arms.

A pikachu.

As in a pokémon.

Life absolutely hated her, didn't it?

Ayumu groaned to herself, rubbing her head. "The paperwork, the paperwork… Damn it all, I hate paperwork. And the sheer amount of it that just walked in front of me…"

"… Um, so this is the person that kidnapped Luffy?" Nami sighed as she explained

"No, she was apparently trying to get him home."

"… In the mountains?"

"Yes."

"… The mountains that are fabled to be the dragon's nest?"

"Yes."

"… Nami, I'm sorry but I really need a bit more of an explanation…" Ayumu's eyes snapped open and she stomped in front of Lin.

"Are you from the main barrier?" Lin blinked.

"… Main who?"

"Where are you from?"

"… I'm not sure I understand the question…" Robin smiled slightly.

"Lin-san, Ayumu-san takes care of trans-dimensional humans." Lin blinked and then made an 'o' with her mouth.

"You're asking me which world I came from! Um, well, I only know it by 'Earth,' but…" Ayumu rubbed her forehead again.

"Are there any monsters where you're from?"

"No."

"Superheroes?"

"Only in comic books."

"Pokémon?"

"No."

"…" Ayumu gave Lin a disbelieving glare, and then looked pointedly at the pikachu dozing in her arms. Lin smiled sheepishly.

"I found her. But she wasn't supposed to exist…" Ayumu was going to have a large headache; she could feel it. Glancing around at the crew that was watching, she gave Lin a motion to come closer. When the crew subconsciously leaned in she turned and snapped

"Do you mind?" They all blinked and took five steps backwards. "Thank you!" Ayumu lowered her voice to the lowest whisper possible so that Lin could barely capture what she said next. "What do you think of when I say 'One Piece'?" Lin whispered back

"The third most popular manga by Eiichiro Oda."

"How many chapters?"

"Five hundred and seventy six."

"Tch, that part? Real bummer, eh?"

"You said it. A whole year's worth of suspense and angst and all down the-"

"Ahem." The girls blinked and turned to where Robin nodded at them. Ayumu straightened with a sigh, raising her voice to normal levels.

"Well, you're definitely from the main barrier. Is that your pokémon?" Lin nodded. "That causes twice as many problems, I want you to know."

"It's not my fault she was stuck as a keychain!"

"Well you shouldn't have brought a keychain _here_ then! That's when they activate! You shouldn't have been here in the first place; prophecies and foretelling be damned!"

"… Prophecy?" Ayumu stared at Lin as though she were retarded.

"You know! Some ancient foretelling that somehow links into you having to be here to save the world from some evil thing! Although I have to admit, the timing is really lousy…"

"… Timing?" Ayumu blinked as she noticed that Lin was twitching considerably, making Pika quite uncomfortable. "You… think I _chose_ to be here?"

"Didn't you?"

"No! I was sitting in the damned library when I got freaking sucked into some stupid portal that spat me out over Dawn Island! I wake up from some sort of coma from landing on top of the mayor after three days only to find that the Pirate King and his crew had decided to pass through there! I go out of my freaking way to _avoid_ this kind of thing at all cost, only to be sucked in by retarded Monkey-brand logic and a huge mess with a buffet table and a little girl with the biggest eyes you ever saw!"

"…"

"… That was a really retarded rant, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Please slap me if I do that again."

"Of course."

"…"

"…"

"… Now what?"

"I think that you're strangling your pokémon to death." Lin eeped and dropped Pika to the ground, kneeling beside her.

"Sorry, Pika!"

"Chu…"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"So can you get me back home?" Ayumu sighed as she walked beside Lin. When she had established that what she was getting was vitally important (Luffy had awakened from his coma to back her up) they had decided to finish the job with her and go up the rest of the mountain. Ayumu led the way, with Lin, Robin, and Nami asking her questions.

"No, I can't."

"But I thought you said-"

"First of all, it's not in my jurisdiction. It's in my brothers."

"So where's your brother? Shouldn't he have been there when I first appeared…?"

"Yes. Which is why I'm so worried about him. The second reason is Pika." Lin unconsciously reached up a hand to pat the sleeping pokémon on her head.

"What about her?"

"There are rules, you know. When a person really bonds with a creature like a pokémon from another dimension, it's illegal to separate the two. Most trainers in the pokémon world only _use_ pokémon, but you've established a real partner _relationship_ with her." Nami grinned.

"Just like you said, Lin. Pika's not a _pet_, she's a _partner_." Ayumu nodded.

"Exactly. That kind of thing is like Luffy with nakama; it just never goes away. Sure, there are certain protocols for memory loss and such, but the person usually feels as though something is always missing, you know? Hell, the worst case was when a Pernese fire lizard egg actually got through and-"

"Memory loss? What does Pika have to do with me going home?" Robin placed a hand on Lin's shoulder.

"I think what Ayumu-san is saying is that if you go back you'd have to leave behind Pika-chan." Ayumu nodded, meeting the dumbstruck look on Lin's face. Obviously she hadn't expected such a thing.

"I can't allow a pokémon to run around in your world; that's what we specifically prevent. I have to send the pokémon back _with_ the bonded trainer. Then you'll have to start a new life in the pokémon world. Maybe Sinnoh; what do you think of that place? Or even Johto…" Once Lin realized what Ayumu was talking about, she yelped and jumped back.

"J-Johto? Pokémon world? I can't go home?" Ayumu stopped and stared at her.

"Of course not! Not with Pika, you can't! You and Pika can't exactly stay here; and I bet there's a whole other line of things that were supposed to happen that never did!"

"And you're blaming me?"

"For example: what happened in Shimotsuki?"

"Are you blaming me?"

"Just answer the question!"

"Fine! A dragon attacked us, happy? How the hell is that _my_ fault?"

"There you go! A dragon wasn't supposed to attack the dojo, they were only going to… meet… **What the hell do you mean a dragon attacked you?**" Lin blinked rapidly as Ayumu grabbed the front of her shirt and began shaking her back and forth. "Dragons don't exist in their timeline!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought…"

"Was it a Sennenryuu?"

"Those things are canon?"

"That's a no, isn't it? A dragon! It was from here, wasn't it?"

"Yes, now stop shaking me!" Ayumu continued shaking her, nearly in hysterics.

"Dragons don't cross timelines! Neither do people! People don't cross timelines and dimensions and kidnap brothers and all this shit and-"

"Oi."

"And steal from organizations they shouldn't even know about-"

"Oi!"

"And kidnap people from their own timelines for some conspiracy or-" Luffy came up and knocked his fist on Ayumu's head, making her fall to the ground with a large bump. "Ow…"

"You shitty gomu captain! How dare you mistreat a lady?" Ayumu waved a hand at the enraged Sanji.

"No, no, it's okay. I was in hysterics. Sorry, Lin." Lin shrugged.

"It's okay. But I think I'm developing a strong dislike of being manhandled; if it develops any further I may end up biting you all." There was a bit of an awkward silence at that, and Lin coughed slightly. "I was… kidding…" Ayumu shook her head.

"The point it, neither you nor Pika are allowed to be with the Straw Hats. The second I find my brother, you two are through the next portal to… Which pokémon generation are you in?"

"…Fourth…"

"Kanto it is. Or if you want somewhere unfamiliar, you could always give Isshu a go. That's from the fifth generation. You'll be given a pokédex, a sufficient amount of the local currency, and, hell, if you go without a fuss we won't even have to wipe your memory…" By now Nami and Robin were watching Lin carefully as Ayumu continued on, seemingly oblivious to Lin's unreadable expression. Nami carefully tapped Lin's shoulder.

"Lin…? Are you okay?" Lin simply shrugged and continued walking, the group still trekking up the mountain. Ayumu never noticed that they weren't paying attention and continued on.

"...And so most people like to start off in Pallet Town when it comes to Kanto, but I was thinking more of along the lines of Viridian City. There's a nice school there that I think you can enjoy without _too_ much embarrassment from being older than a usual trainer, but then again if you're in Pallet you could always talk to Professor Oak and he could hook you up with a leftover pokédex and-" Lin finally turned to Ayumu and said

"So where are we going anyway?" Ayumu blinked from the change of topic but shrugged and answered.

"I'm pretty sure I've already said so, but we're going to find out what Fei's been doing and find my pin."

"Why are we headed up Dragon's Peak then?" Ayumu sighed and stated in a very demeaning voice

"Because regardless of what this mountain is called, this is still where I was captured while I was investigating the- Why is this called Dragon's Peak?" Ayumu suddenly stopped and stared at Lin. Nami shrugged from beside her.

"Ryuuma said it was because this was the fabled breeding place and home of dragons." Ayumu stopped and stood shock still, not quite comprehending.

"... Dragons?" Nami nodded.

"Don't worry though! At the very least, we have them." She stated, pointing back at the men (and reindeer) of the crew. Sanji noodled.

"I'm so glad my Nami-swan has such confidence in me~!"

"I was talking about the monkey-faced idiot and the angry one with the belly band."

"Oi!"

"Who's the monkey?" Ayumu shook her head in disbelief.

"But don't you guys get it?" Nami and Lin stared at Ayumu in confusion. Ayumu slapped her forehead. "Look. Dragon's Peak. Fei's project." Nami waved a hand.

"Oh, that. We've thought about that already. Fei's been using marines to capture and transport dragons back to our time under some evil organization. We've been through the whole routine before." Ayumu twitched.

"This is really, really _bad_ though! There's more than one world full of monsters out there you know! What would happen if this organization got a hold of them all?" Nami was silenced at the possibilities. Ayumu continued. "Not to mention that if so many different portals are opened at the same time, it will cause complete chaos in the entire dimensional plane!"

"Let me guess, leading to the untimely end of the universe as we know it?" Lin sarcastically supplied. Ayumu nodded with complete seriousness.

"Yes."

"..." After an awkward silence Ayumu laughed.

"Nah, I'm just kidding. Actually, portals from opposite worlds will just automatically open up in order to balance themselves out. Kind of like if one side of a dimension has been stretched open, then the other side needs to do the same to hold itself upright. It's still bad though, even if something like that hasn't happened in eons."

"..."

"...?"

"... Why do I get the feeling that you've jinxed us?"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"We're here!" Luffy declared, cheering to the skies. The rest of the crew sweat dropped.

… This is what they came here for?

Nestled between two trees ahead was a small cabin, barely the size of Lin's apartment room (not that the crew knew that; but with Lin's budget it was considerably small.) There was no sign of it being anything other than a small vacationing home (or murder scene) in the middle of nowhere, and even Ayumu seemed put out by its appearance.

She soon got over it and continued on towards the cabin, motioning the crew to follow.

"Come on, then." When they didn't follow she turned and walked back indignantly. "Look, I know you guys really want to get home, don't you? Then you have to help me out here!" Zoro crossed his arms and scowled at the cabin.

"It's a trap." Ayumu blinked rapidly at him.

"What makes you think that?" Lin pointed.

"I think it's the creepy-ass guy with the pencil walking out of the cabin." She stated rather dryly, and Ayumu jumped back into their group when a chuckle sounded from behind her.

"I'm not really one to be hurt by words, but I don't think I'm _that_ creepy." Luffy blinked and then stepped forward, pointing at him accusingly.

"Oi! You're that mystery guy that gave me a bad cookie!" The crew sweat dropped at the odd accusation even as the man laughed.

"You didn't have to take it, you know. Is this your crew?" When Luffy didn't answer he sighed. "Youth these days. Always so rude. I'm only about one generation ahead of you, and even I still know better! Here's an example: Hello, my name is Fei Complex. What's your name?" The crew watched him wearily. Robin then stepped forward.

"Who are you working for?" Fei blinked at the question.

"Well, you're rather straightforward, aren't you? You aren't even going to ask how I got here in the first place?"

"Stolen technology."

"How about why I'm up in the middle of the mountains?"

"Capturing dragons at their nest."

"Aw, that's just not fair. How about what the big bad guy's planning to do with a whole army of dragons; especially now that this place won't have a single dragon problem until our own time?" Ayumu stepped up, enraged.

"You took… every single dragon? You didn't leave behind a single one?" Fei shrugged.

"Most people would like that, you know. Besides, they're only being relocated." Lin began muttering under her breath as the crew glared at Fei.

"But that's not right. That could completely upset some natural order! What if the dragons were natural predators of some other kind of monster? What if they were keeping another population down while balancing out some-"

"Lin? What are you muttering about?" Lin blinked and met Ayumu's eyes.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Just an internal rant that comes from studying Biology a little too hard. This is the part where someone gets hurt though, isn't it?" Nami placed together her Clima Tact with a hard nod.

"Right around here, really." Fei sighed deeply.

"I'll have you know that's quite unfair; there's thirteen of you, and only one of me." Lin suddenly held up a hand, confused.

"Wait, but there's…" Lin began counting on her hand as she counted the people around her. "Me, Pika, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brooke, Ayumu, and Ryuuma. That only makes- **Ryuuma, what the hell are you doing here?**" The man in question stared at her innocently even as the crew gave a start upon noticing him in the middle of them all.

"What? I was here the whole time."

"But you… and then… I told you that…" Nami twitched.

"Lin, I thought I told you to tell him that we didn't need a guide anymore!"

"B-But I-"

"Oh, I know you guys don't need a guide anymore." Lin's eye twitched.

"Then why did you follow us?"

"I wanted to see if there were dragons up here. But I guess there aren't anymore…"

"Of all the times to go sight-seeing, did it have to be now?"

"Sure." Lin slapped her forehead, and when Luffy asked who the other Zoro was she only waved a handa.

"Luffy, Ryuuma. Ryuuma, Luffy. The captain we've been looking for. The guy who helped us get around. I think the pencil guy's about to blow a gasket."

Fei was indeed turning a very unhealthy shade of purple, veins throbbing on his forehead in an angry tic. "**How dare you ignore me?**" Lin yelped and jumped behind Ryuuma, snatching Pika up as Fei reached into his pocket and pulled out a whole handful of pencils, throwing them like darts at the crew. Usopp and Chopper followed suite behind Sanji and Zoro respectively as Nami yelled out

"Get down!" Half of the crew (Usopp, Chopper, Luffy, Pika, Brooke, and Lin) was then yanked to the ground by the other half (Sanji, Zoro, Nami, Ayumu, Franky, and Ryuuma) as the pencils whizzed above their heads. Nami looked up after the assault worriedly.

"Robin?" When there was no response, she looked over to her side and noticed Robin slumped up against a tree. "Robin!"

A pencil had actually only grazed her, giving her only a small dose of the odd substance on the pencil. Robin was barely conscious, and Nami carefully moved her behind a tree as she slumped over. The crew glared up at Fei as he slowly took deep breaths, then flashed them a smile.

"My apologies. Temper, you see. No biggie, right?"

"You hurt Robin you stupid pencil guy!" Luffy snapped, winding up his arm and then shooting it forward. "Gomu gomu no…" When Luffy's arm shot up to Fei he simply pointed the sharp end of a pencil in front of his face, and Luffy jerked back his arm before it could touch him. "Oi, no cheating!"

"That's not cheating. I call it self-preservation." Fei replied dryly, twirling the pencil in his hand. "I'm not about to go down there, and you aren't coming up here without a fight. How many of you are long-range fighters, might I ask? Without risking bodily harm on yourselves, of course." Nami nodded to herself.

"Good point. Usopp, you're up." Usopp eeped.

"W-Why m-me?"

"Because we can't risk damaging the cabin behind him; we still need something in there! And Zoro's aim is as unpredictable as his directions…"

"Oi!"

"… And we are _not_ shooting up another limb to find out that he has some other trick up his sleeve! Do it _now_!" Apparently Usopp feared Nami's wrath far more than Fei, and he drew his Kabuto and had it shooting a small projectile at Fei the next second.

"Tamago Boshi!" The projectile turned out to be a small rotten egg, and while Fei jumped back to avoid an explosion of some sort, he certainly didn't expect an egg to instead blind him. Fei yelled from the pain in his eyes (and that God-awful smell) while Luffy yelled and charged forward, the threat of any pencils flying now neutralized.

"Gomu gomu no…" Fei wasn't deaf, and certainly judged from the gaping hole in the prison that this was not a man to take lightly; especially when he was shouting like that. Still holding a hand over his eyes, he reached into a pocket and pulled out a small pellet, throwing it to the floor. Just as Luffy about reached him, the ground around him exploded into a white dust that completely veiled Fei's escape.

"So long, Pirate King! I'd tell you something cheesy like I'm planning revenge or what not, but then again, you never really stopped anything!" While Luffy was fumbling in the dust, the rest of the crew watched with a blank expression as Fei simply ran away, obviously oblivious to the fact that he was _not_ being stealthy.

At all.

"… Should we chase him?" Ayumu asked hesitantly. Nami shook her head.

"He's right; we didn't stop anything. If he's from a really dangerous guy, then he won't know a thing about what he's planning. Besides, I think Luffy found what you were looking for." The two turned to see Luffy waving about the pin, still covered in the odd dust.

"Oi mina! Look what I found!" Nami shook her head with a laugh.

"He does come through in the end, I suppose. Even if he does it in the most unintentionally procrastinating and irritatingly simple way possible."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

The crew sat in the small cabin, the girls searching through to find anything of importance. They were sorely disappointed to find that the only things the cabin consisted of were a small Den Den Mushi, an odd concoction that Chopper identified to be the same poison used on Robin (he made a mental note to himself to write out the formula for a faster system expulsion than the usual few days it took) and a map of the mountain with a small 'x' and a trail leading somewhere. Nami studied it and found that the 'x' was the cabin itself, and when she, Luffy and Sanji went to investigate the trail they found that it only led to an empty network of caves; most likely where the dragons had lived.

Lin sighed as she flopped down on the floor near Pika, watching Ayumu carefully. Ayumu had been sorely disappointed when she realized that Luffy had only managed to grab her own pin; Fei had gotten away with her brother's. Now she was tinkering with the small wing on it, muttering under her breath. Lin hesitated then carefully asked

"Ayumu?"

"Hn." Ayumu replied without looking up. Lin sighed.

"… Why didn't someone besides your brother come when I first appeared in their world? Pika still would have been a keychain, no one but the doctor and the mayor would have noticed my absence, and…" Ayumu looked up with a frown.

"You want to stay with them." It wasn't a question. Lin nodded sheepishly after glancing around to make sure that no one was listening. Everyone else was too busy with their own thing, and ignored the two.

"It's just… if I hadn't met them in the first place, it would have been just fine for me to go back, you know? Not that I'm blaming anyone; I know you said that it was under your brother's jurisdiction, and I'm guessing anything else is against the rules; but now I… really don't want to leave just yet." Ayumu sighed, pinning the pin onto her shirt as she turned to Lin.

"You're right; it is against the rules for someone to interfere without permission. Most likely when I have to report everything that's happened, you'll be handed off to someone else while Kai is… absent. But," She held up a finger at the disappointed look on Lin's face. "Luckily for you, I have a large dislike for specifics in paperwork." Ayumu winked at the confused expression on Lin's face. "I'll tell you later. But for now…" Ayumu then stood up and walked into the center of the room, gathering the entire crew's attention.

"Did anybody order a one-way trip to Gaimon's Island?" The crew grinned as they realized what she meant. Chopper bounced up in excitement, eyes sparkling.

"You can really take us back home?"

"Of course! Just follow me outside, and I'll have this thing running up in a jiffy." Ayumu walked outside, most of the crew following. Just as Lin began to go out, she was stopped by the one figure that hadn't moved the whole time.

"Lin-chan." Lin winced, turning to Ryuuma. He had stayed during the whole episode, silently observing with sharp eyes. Ryuuma stood and walked over to Lin, glancing down at her. "You're all pirates." This wasn't a question, and Lin winced.

"Sorry, I really would have told you, but…" Ryuuma waved a hand nonchalantly.

"It's fine. I don't particularly care about which side of the law a person is on, after all. No, what matters is that your captain has the strongest Warrior's Soul of us all." Lin smiled at that.

"He does, doesn't he? He's pretty great."

"But what did that man mean when he called him a Pirate King…?" Lin blinked.

"It's… a title given to only very, very special people. There's only two Pirate Kings; and he's the second. The first one died long ago." Ryuuma nodded.

"So he isn't the King I'm looking for…" Lin's mouth made an 'o' shape.

"No, he isn't. Sorry, Ryuuma. But…" Lin smiled up at him. "Flare knows who he is." Ryuuma stared at her.

"How do you know that?" Lin waved as she walked out the door.

"I'd tell you myself, but it's something that I think you'd appreciate more from her. Call it a hunch."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Ryuuma walked outside to see a large blue hole in a nearby tree, the crew gathered around it. Ayumu grinned as she placed her pin back on her shirt.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Luffy grinned.

"Everyone's here, right? Of course we are! Let's hurry up; I can't wait to see Sunny again!" The crew agreed whole heartedly, and then Luffy charged into the portal with a yell, making them sweat drop. Ryuuma chuckled as he watched; Luffy was certainly the captain, in a way that very few outsiders to their group could see. The fact that the crew filed through after him one by one was testimony enough to that, Lin turning back with a final "Thank you!" before the portal closed on the last of them.

Ryuuma stared a bit at the normal tree, then shrugged to himself as he returned back down the mountain. Behind him he left an entire pile of the once-feared Dragon Horns left by the crew, now completely obsolete without the dragons. It made life a little dull but…

… Then again, Ryuuma always had that free meal from Flare to look forward to. His question about the King could wait until he had his fair share of that.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Gaimon's heart about leapt in his throat when the entire Mugiwara crew literally appeared from no where.

He had been worriedly pacing along, glancing back to the tent he had left and back to the ship they had left behind, when Mugiwara himself had yelled as he appeared on the ground right in front of Gaimon. It was without warning, with no noise or indication that the space around him had been disturbed when he made his appearance, and Gaimon skipped back an incredible distance of five feet for someone with useless legs.

This had ended up saving him, as the crew all began appearing in the same manner in a line behind Luffy; who had laughed in delight when he realized his surroundings.

"Yosh! We're back~!" Eventually the train ended with an unfamiliar girl, and they all noticed Gaimon at the same time.

"Oi, Uncle!" Gaimon twitched from where he was, but offered no response. The little reindeer was fussing over him in an instant.

"Do you still feel dizzy? Sick? Headache? Do I need to get you a-" Nami tapped Chopper on the shoulder and quietly reminded him that they had, after all, just appeared from thin air. This set off a series of questions that had something to do with Gaimon's blood sugar level, and eventually Gaimon's head was spinning from so many questions that he forgot about the whole matter.

It was later, when the crew was gathered on the island and discussing what to do with the crate portal that had yet to close itself up, that Ayumu brought up the issue of her report. The crew went silent, all glancing at Lin. Ayumu cleared her throat.

"So, obviously this is something that has never happened before. One of our own organization's members being captured before they could complete an assignment. Lin's fate is still technically up to my brother though, as the leaders still don't know anything about what happened here. I can't give away the classified details, but know that this whole mess is very, _very_ bad. And because it's happening in _your_ world, the only reason your minds haven't been wiped is because you may run across some useful information in your travels. **But remember that this whole matter is classified**!" They nodded at the very Nami-like tone in Ayumu's voice, and she sighed and sat herself down.

"This whole thing's a mess. But I can't move Lin without permission, so this is what I'm going to do." Ayumu pulled out a slip of paper and pencil, and then began writing some things down. "Name: Lin. Species: unidentified. (Lin made to protest in confusion but was silenced by Ayumu) Status: trans-dimensional being of somewhat higher intelligence (now it required a sharp verbal command to make Lin shut up) that bonded with specified Straw Hat." Ayumu made a mark on the paper, nodding in satisfaction. "I'll have to make one for Pika too, only a bit more specified on the species." Robin's eyes twinkled as she regarded Ayumu in amusement, Nami also smirking.

"Won't they suspect?" Ayumu grinned.

"Not at all. This is actually the usual quality of my reports; probably why I had to keep switching posts." Lin and the rest of the crew seemed lost. Nami sighed.

"Remember what she told us about bonds with creatures from other dimensions?" Lin nodded carefully.

"It was illegal to separate the-_Oh_, I get it!" Lin jumped up and pointed to Ayumu with a wide smile on her face. "Until you find your brother and he finds out the truth, I'll be left under the care of… What did you mean by 'specified Straw Hat'?" Ayumu rolled her eyes.

"It would be really suspicious if I put in that you achieved the required partnership bond with _all_ of the Straw Hats, Lin. I still need to fill in which one is supposed to be your and Pika's specified guardian." Ayumu gave each of the Straw Hats a searching glance as she explained. "Just because I'm filling in this paperwork, that doesn't mean that someone won't probably come to confirm it all. This way you need to pick out a specific person that will be with the two most often; we don't exactly pop in with warning, and it could happen literally at any time; be it months or seconds after the report. The person you guys pick will have to be able to be declared absent, or will have to be able to stand up to the interrogations and lie through their teeth about it." Nami and Robin exchanged a glance, Robin starting

"Someone to lie through their teeth…"

"But most likely someone who is absent enough for it to be less suspicious." Nami added, looking at the boys thoughtfully.

"And spends the most time with Lin-san." Robin put in, smiling slightly. Sanji immediately began swooning.

"I would be happy to lie through my teeth for you, Lin-chwan~!" Lin's eye began twitching heavily; were they really going to leave her out of this? But when she opened her mouth she was cut off by Nami.

"I suppose there's only one logical choice, then." Nami then turned back to Ayumu. "Put in Roronoa Zoro for the guardian of the two." Zoro (who had been peacefully sleeping until he heard his name) and Lin immediately straightened up.

"EH?" Ayumu shrugged and wrote it in, then gave the pin a little flick.

"Great! That's all I need. I may be checking in on you guys, so see you later!" And then she disappeared, leaving behind two very indignant people and a mourning chef.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

I absolutely hate this chapter... TT But Ayumu will be back; if not for a long while.

WHOA. Yeah, that's stretching it a bit far. But I couldn't really find any other way for Lin to stay with the Straw Hats with the whole Ayumu thing other than unspecified reports and a guardian (I get a little too much into laws and rules and such) . And if you think about it, Zoro's the only logical choice, because…

Luffy doesn't lie. At all. And he's quite open about his nakama; they'd be found out in an instant.

Nami needs to be with the crew at all times, so if they weren't available for a check up then it would be really suspicious to the organization (which, may I remind you, knows everything about the Straw Hats.)

Usopp is a good liar, but then again, the organization knows this. They know all. Oo;;

Sanji _would_ spend more time with Lin if he got the chance (just like he would with any female) but that would just be plain awkward for poor Lin. And he doesn't even like Pika that much.

Chopper… he's always around the Straw Hats _and_ he's such a truthful little guy.

Robin _is_ absent for long intervals at times, but she doesn't really hang around Lin that much.

Franky doesn't exactly hang around Lin either, and he's always with the Straw Hats too.

Brooke may help Lin with training, but he's got that whole panties gag going on. And I swear I turn red every time I have to type out his usual lines… TT I need to get over it. But Brooke likes hanging out with the Straw Hats as well; in reality, they all hang out together! But there's only one that gets lost _all the time_.

Zoro trains Lin, is constantly away from the Straw Hats (but if you asked him he would say that the _others_ were lost) and is really good about knowing about people following him. After all, someone from the mystery organization might decide to stealthily follow the alleged guardian instead of confronting them head on (is this foreshadowing? :O ) and Zoro would be one of the few that could realize that they were being followed. The whole guardianship thing only means that if they seperate into groups in towns, Lin would just have to go with Zoro and whoever else. Nothing else; except maybe more torture from Nami. xP

Now go back and reread those reasons and keep in this point in mind: YOU ALL STILL LOOK FOR PAIRINGS IN THIS STORY, DESPITE ME SAYING THAT THERE IS NO ROMANCE IN THIS STORY. Actually, I don't mind that really. I can see where you guys can get hints from some of my wording, and I do put in some hints intentionally. *cackle* But if you guys are going to do that, then I don't you guys to automatically assume that Lin will be paired up with the guardian I picked. And Lin isn't a lesbian (no, I'm not being offensive towards gay people; I'm just stating a fact) and the Straw Hat's older members aren't pedophiles. Ergo, it seems most logical that if you guys are going to go looking for romance (where it still doesn't exist, mind you) you might as well go with Zoro. And he's still my favorite Straw Hat; SO THIS WHOLE THING WORKS OUT.

BAM, my logic. Did you know that Robin's my second favorite character? She's like the ultimate female Batman, with the same eyes and hair as Bruce Wayne, and then that _name_. 8OOO If you ever ask me, I'd say that Zoro always tries to imitate Robin's calm demeanor but is always set off by Sanji or someone else. He has many long years of training if he wishes to obtain such Robin-like awesomeness, but I'm a sucker for sharp objects and his amazing tendency to get lost in the most impossible places.

Special thanks to eternitybeckons, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, allycat18, marsnmonkey, and Shraikor for reviewing~! I LOVE YOU ALL~!

And the next arc's going to be really tricky. It's just that of all the arcs I had a hard time imagining, the Syrup Village one is the hardest. Because you really didn't think I'd let Usopp's relationship with Yasopp end on such a sour note, did you? ;D


	17. Pirates

OKAY SHORT CHAPTER. And early too. I'm getting this out before they come for me... xP Just kidding. But, unfortunately, I must say this:

I CAN NOT KEEP UP MY WEEKLY UPDATING.

I can't! That's it! After so many late assignments and attempting to squeeze in writing for _two_ stories, I just need to let something go! I AM NOT GOING TO FAIL ELEVENTH GRADE.

I'll just update this story when I can. BAM. I'll try to keep up my regular length, but otherwise updates are now free range! I just took the part of the chapter I already wrote for the week and posted it because I most likely won't be able to this weekend.

I'll be working my ass off over schoolwork. Because the finals aren't for a couple more weeks.

That is all. :D

I don't own One Piece or Pokémon.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"**It is, it is, a glorious thing**

**To be a Pirate King"**

**~Sir William Gilbert**

"Why, Nami? Why, of all people, do I have to be stuck with ZORO? … No offense, Zoro." Lin added as an afterthought. Zoro was far too engrossed in his own arguments to comment.

"And why the hell am I _babysitting_ for her? This is inhumane!"

"... At the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, whaddya mean being stuck with me is inhumane?" Lin demanded, now turning on Zoro. "I don't need a babysitter; I'm eighteen dammitall!" Usopp, Franky, and Brooke nodded sagely.

"Definitely a hypocrite." They stated in unison just before Sanji was on them.

"Don't call Lin-chan such names you shitty bastards!" Sanji yelled as he began kicking the three into submission. The girls and Zoro ignored them. Nami sighed, rubbing her head.

"Look Lin, I know you really didn't get a choice in the matter-"

"Damn straight!"

"... But really, was there any other choice? Zoro is one of the only ones who is away from the ship enough for it to be considered regular, and he'll be able to protect you easily." Lin pouted; bringing up the fact that she was weak compared to the others was something of a sore spot.

"But... he gets _lost_ all the damn time... How am I supposed to keep up with that?" Lin muttered. Nami grinned.

"Yes, there's also that. We used to have to take shifts on watching Zoro when he went into town, and now that's all your job!" Zoro scowled fiercely as Lin stared in open-mouthed disbelief.

"I. Don't. Get. Lost."

"Yes you do. Now shut up and stop being such a big baby about this!" Zoro crossed his arms.

"I'm just not prone to dragging her around with me! She'll slow me down!" Nami rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I've forgotten how much of a hurry you're always in when getting nowhere." She stated sarcastically. Lin scowled.

"I'm not slow."

"You're like a snail compared to me."

"EVERYTHING WILL SEEM SLOW COMPARED TO _YOU!"_

"Exactly." Lin's mind seemed to have a meltdown at the logic. Nami sighed.

"I really didn't want to have to do this, but..." Nami's eyes took on a demonic glint. "I will be forced to bring your debts into this." Both Lin and Zoro stepped back slightly. She nodded. "That's right. Now, for every time that we're in a town and I catch _either_ of you without the other around, both of your debts will go up _individually_ by ten percent!" They both gulped. Zoro scowled.

"That's not fair! She'll make me have to sell my soul with that kind of pricing!" Nami took the courtesy of punching out Zoro for Lin. Lin muttered evil things under her breath, and then looked up at Nami curiously as Zoro lay on the ground.

"How much does Zoro owe you exactly?" Nami smirked and whispered something in Lin's ear. Lin's eyes popped open. "WOW!" Lin stared at Nami in disbelief. "That's incredible! When converted to USD, that debt would be enough to send even Bill Gates into hiding in Cuba!"

"... Who?"

"Never mind. The point is, Onigiri-sensei, ten percent of _that_ is akin to selling a small country." Zoro looked up and scowled at Nami.

"Then why am I supposed to still pay it off?" Nami sighed sadly.

"And here I thought you'd understand Ryuuma's concept of a true 'Warrior's Soul.'" Nami tsked, making Zoro's vein throb in anger.

"There's nothing that says cheating your way into being owed money is considered debt!"

"There's also nothing that says I can't cheat it. Even if there was, we're pirates. Live with it." Nami smirked and stalked off, leaving behind the two to simmer. Well, Zoro was simmering and Lin was staring at him incredulously.

"How did you manage to get yourself into _that_ kind of debt?" Zoro only grunted and walked away.

"You don't want to know." Just then Nami came back and grabbed Zoro, dragging him by the ear to the tent.

"You've got a job to do with this crate now..."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"So long Gaimon~!" Nami called from the ship. Gaimon waved from the beach.

"Take care! Don't forget to have more adventures!" Gaimon grinned as they left, then shook his head as he chuckled. They had really done it. They'd really found One Piece. But still... Gaimon couldn't help but worry about what would await them.

Patting the rooster-dog, he sighed. "I'll miss those brats. Sure was interesting to be able to meet the Pirate King before he became him, though. Doesn't seem to have changed too much." The rooster-dog crowed in agreement. Gaimon smiled and went on his way, though a small part of him knew that it wasn't over.

What had happened on his little island was only a test run, after all.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"You've failed to retrieve the girl, Complex." Fei flinched from where he stood. Not only was he sopping wet (he had jumped through the portal to find that the crate was floating in the middle of the ocean) but he had to return empty handed. This made for him being in both hysterics and deep shit with his boss.

"It wasn't really my fault! That kid-"

"The one that _you_ yourself brought there, no? If you had payed attention to the Fleet-Admiral's information, you'd realize that the Pirate King was a formidable opponent even when he was a rookie! And he only has become stronger, his crew along with him! They all follow each other to the ends of the earth like some sort of romance!" Fei flinched at the venom in the man's voice. The man sighed. "Now look what you've done; I've upset myself."

"I-I'll do my best to-"

"To _what_? I've already assigned out the other jobs! You are now obsolete, and have failed my orders!" A bright, yellow glow from the man's direction lit up Fei's terrified face.

"No! Please! I still have some information!" The glow slowly died away.

"I'm listening." Fei was utterly relieved at his being spared.

"Th-The portal you opened up over Fuchsia... Something did drop through!" Fei took the man's silence as a sign to go on. "It was only a girl, but-" The light flared up again. "ButtheysaidshewasfromsomeMainBarrier!" Fei spat out. The man paused.

"What was that?"

"The other girl, she said that the new one... was from some place called the 'Main Barrier'. Apparently this is some place that they're protecting at all costs!" The man considered this, again letting the light die out.

"Coordinates?" Fei shook his head.

"They've got it under tight wraps. It was hard enough to crack the code for going back in time in our own world! Finding coordinates for a world we've never even heard of..."

"Yes, we'd need something from that world to use as a guide for a signal..." The man murmured. Suddenly he shot Fei a gaze and Fei weakly stated.

"She's under the guardianship of the Pirate King, though..." The man scowled heavily.

"That would be a problem... But if it's something that they're protecting at all costs, it must hide something of value! You _will_ grab that girl, you _will_ do whatever it takes to get her, and under no circumstances are you to return without her or some other agent! NOW!" The man watched Fei scurry off with satisfaction. Turning, he picked up a small Den Den Mushi, muttering to himself "Just to be safe."

At the other end of the line Sengoku picked up the receiver with impatience. "Well?"

"I believe I have some interesting information on the newest member of the Pirate King's crew, Sengoku sir..."

"Newest member?"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Lin kicked one of Zoro's weights on the floor, and then yelped and jumped around, holding her foot. While wearing boots was an advantage, perhaps attempting to budge a ton (at least as it said on the side) with the hardest and sloppiest kick she could muster (kicking had never been her specialty) wasn't the brightest idea.

Not to mention it did nothing to improve her mood. She had gone up to the crow's nest to... well, she wasn't sure. But everyone had gone off to their own thing, with the exception of Sanji offering her a small snack and fruity drink.

She'd taken up the snack and was now polishing off the last piece, sighing as she sat. She looked at it oddly, what was it exactly? A type of fruit? It was possible, as there were many fruits that could exist here. There was an infinite number of things that could exist here that Lin had never heard of, and she was stuck here now.

Lin bit into the piece, miserable at where her thoughts had taken her. Not even the amazing taste of the pastry could stop her useless mumbling.

"Really then, would it kill just to let me go home? I could hide Pika, or maybe make that pokéball work, or..." Lin sighed and buried her face in her hands. "But they're right. And I can't leave behind Pika... Stupid rules. Stupid making sense. Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid- OW!" Lin yelped and fell backwards as a bokken bonked her on the head. She rubbed her head and glared up at Zoro, who was holding out her bokken for her to take.

"Training time." Lin scowled heavily but took the bokken anyway. She looked around.

"Where's Brooke?"

"With the others. We're going to work on your form today. You copied my own technique last time." Lin turned a bit red.

"... Only a little." Zoro shook his head.

"You had the right idea, but it was too wild. You'll never see where you're hitting if you keep going like that, and control is essential when it comes to team fighting. You or your partner could easily kill each other in a small slip up." Lin gulped at the thought as Zoro went on. "So now you are going to go through every little step until it's right, and then learn which forms are good for transits to other forms. You are going to do this every other day. Any questions?"

"Well-OW!." Zoro nodded as Lin rubbed her sore head.

"Good."

**O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sengoku silently placed down the receiver, thoughts racing.

A trans-dimensional human on the crew of the Mugiwara? Who knew what she was capable of? Not to mention that even the supposed weak members of the Pirate King's crew were able to take out large hordes of marines all on their own...

Sengoku needed to make a call. Now. Picking up the receiver again he flicked in the numbers and waited. When the other line picked up, he demanded

"Send Attachan to East Blue. We need updated bounty posters of the Mugiwaras... No, I don't _care_ if he's on his vacation; we need to do it before they pull something stupid! … Yes, I believe they will... Send Vice-Admiral Smoker to the Baratie; make sure that he understands the concept of ambush. And be sure to attack _after_ established contact with the chef's guardian... Don't ask why! Just do it!"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Lin walked into the library, rubbing her sore arms. Every time she had messed up a form, she got a good whack on the offending body part. When she complained about Zoro's training methods, she was thwacked on the forehead. She grumbled very dark things as she looked over the shelves.

"Damned swordsmen, damned methods, damned bokken. I'm pretty sure they illegalized abusive teachers for a bloody good reason."

"How did your training go?" Lin jumped and turned to see Robin sitting on the bench with a book in her hand. It looked as though she had been there the whole time. Lin threw up her arms.

"And now everyone has ninja skills but me! You need to show me how to do that sometime."

"Do what?" Robin asked casually, smiling mysteriously. Lin only shook her head.

"Never mind. I'm actually looking for that pokémon book." An arm sprouted on a shelf above Lin and pulled out a brown book and gave it a light toss to her. Lin collapsed when instead the book hit her directly on the head.

"Ooofff..."

"My apologies."

"I think you all want me to have brain damage by the time I'm twenty. There is no other sane reason for me to hit my head so many times when I'm around you all." Lin groaned as she sat up, picking up the book. She sat on the bench and opened it, looking for a specific section.

"What are you looking for?" Lin turned to see Robin was suddenly sitting next to her and looking over the book. Lin nearly threw the book in the air.

"God Robin! Give me a heart attack then!" Lin demanded, much to Robin's amusement. She sighed and answered. "But I'm looking up the section on pikachu attacks. It occurred to me that I don't know what level Pika's at..."

"Level?"

"At certain levels, pokémon can do certain attacks. Some even evolve into more advanced forms of their species. They grow levels by experience." Robin nodded as Lin flipped through the book.

"I see. Will Pika-chan ever evolve?" Lin shook her head.

"No. She could, but only with a thunderstone. And no one around here has that kind of thing." Lin explained. She then found the page with a smirk. "A-HA!" Suddenly Lin's smirk dropped into a frown. "Shit."

"What's the matter?"

"It looks like a pokémon's level is determined by the scanner on the pokédex. We don't have a pokédex, we have the words about it." Lin leaned back with a sigh. "I guess Pika will just have to do trial and error? Let's see... I know that she can do thundershock."

"Pikachu?"

"Lin?" Lin blinked to see Pika and Chopper come in. Chopper walked up curiously. "What are you doing?" Lin showed Chopper the book.

"I'm looking up the moves Pika can do. But I need a scanner to find out what level she's at." Lin turned to Pika thoughtfully. "I know you can do Thundershock and Growl, but how about Tail Whip?" Pika nodded. "Thunder Wave?" Another nod. "Double Team?" This time Pika seemed unsure. Lin smiled.

"Wanna give it a go then?" Pika gave a thumbs up.

"Pikapi!" Pika crouched down in preparation as Lin explained.

"Double Team is when the pokémon moves so quickly it looks like-"

"WAAAH!" Lin and Chopper jumped to see Usopp standing in the doorway and staring at Pika. "There are two Pikas?" Lin blinked and looked to see two pikachu both standing a moment before blurring back into one exhausted pikachu. Lin picked up Pika and set her on her lap.

"Good job Pika! I think it's safe to say that you're about level eighteen then." Chopper's eyes sparkled.

"That was so cool! You're so fast Pika!" Pika's red cheeks took on an odd pink tinge and she waved a paw modestly.

"Pi..." Chopper continued to lavish Pika with praise (and Pika continued to wave it off) as Lin and Robin turned to Usopp.

"Did you need something, Long nose-kun?" Usopp stared at Pika a bit longer but quickly shook it off.

"Um, I was actually wondering if anyone had seen Nami. I wanted to know when we were getting to Syrup Village..." He trailed off. Robin nodded.

"I believe she said that we should be there around dawn tomorrow." Robin said. Usopp grinned.

"Perfect." Lin and Chopper exchanged a glance.

"Um, Usopp? What's so perfect?" Lin asked cautiously. Usopp gave her a long look before shaking his head.

"It's nothing. Just a little prank..."

"Let me guess: you want to run around town screaming 'Pirates' and wake everyone up like that?" Usopp visibly deflated at Lin's guess.

"Yes. But!" Usopp added, holding up a finger. "I have a part two of my Incredible Secret Operation!" Chopper looked up at Usopp in awe.

"A secret operation? Awesome!"

"Not just 'awesome' Chopper; incredible!"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Piman and Ninjin met at their usual spot the next morning, just outside of Usopp's abandoned house. Ninjin glanced at the horizon, where the sun was just beginning to rise, and huffed in annoyance.

"Where is he?" Piman shrugged.

"You know how he is, he's always late. I'm sure he'll turn up soon-"

"**PIRAAAAAAAAAATES!**"

"... See?" Piman smiled, but then turned to Tamanegi with a frown. The boy was running up, panting and wheezing out that pirates were actually coming. Ninjin looked at him oddly.

"We haven't started yet, so don't get so worked up! Wait until we actually reach town!"

"Pirates... are really... here...!" Panted Tamanegi.

"Liar." The other two chorused. Tamanegi shook his head, looking up with a grin that startled the boys.

"No! I really mean it! And it's the Mugiwaras too! Captain's back!"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Lin stretched as she stepped onto the beach, Pika jumping off her shoulder and rolling around in the warm sand. Lin tried to school her features into a stern frown.

"Pika, don't get yourself all dirty! Sand is a pain to get out of fur." Pika shook herself and smiled up at Lin, who could only grin back. The rest of the crew also walked out onto the beach, Usopp carefully making note of the time of day.

"It was usually around this time..." He muttered to himself. Luffy grinned.

"So we're all ready then?" He asked. Zoro grumbled to himself, but Nami lightly slapped his arm.

"Don't be such a baby. Let Usopp have his fun."

"I think this will be quite amusing Swordsman-san."

"I agree with Nico Robin! Lighten up!"

"Robin-chwan is the voice of reason in my lonely mind~!"

"Did I ever mention that you guys were all insane?"

"Many times, Lin. Many times. But Usopp... do you know those children?" Nami winked at Usopp, pointing over her shoulder at a small bush near the cliff. They had landed where they originally met Usopp, being cut off from view of the village by trees, and could see three oddly-shaped heads peeking out over the bush. The onion seemed to have a stroke.

"AHH! The oni-baba found us!" Nami's eyes darkened.

"Why the hell are you still on that?" Luffy nearly collapsed from laughter as the boys raced down the cliff towards Usopp.

"Captain!" Usopp was thrown to the ground as the boys tackled him, all talking at the same time.

"Every day now we-"

"-SO COOL that you're a-"

"-And then Kaya said-"

"-But they didn't believe-"

"-Just we always get caught-"

"-And then we-" Usopp held up his hand and they all stopped at once.

"Okay then. One at a time. Me first." Usopp stated. He then scooped up the boys into a large group hug. "I've missed you guys so much!" They all squirmed in his grasp.

"Captain! No hugging!"

"Yeah! We're pirates, and we don't hug!"

"Too... tight... can't breathe..." Usopp released them and they dropped to the ground. Just then they seemed to notice the rest of the crew.

Zoro was still scowling about his part in Usopp's Incredible Secret Operation, and was giving off a very intimidating aura. Luffy had told Brooke of the prank that Zoro had pulled on the boys, and he was laughing his chilling laugh. Couple that with the general appearances of Franky and Chopper, they were just about to pass out with fear when they noticed Lin and Pika.

Her black attire and odd, scruffed up (the sand was indeed hard to get out of fur) mutant companion seemed to be the last straw.

"_**WITCH!**_" The boys screeched as loud as possible and tottered backwards in an odd little pile. The crew looked back to see Lin's reaction, only to see that she was looking at them in confusion.

"Who is?" The crew slapped their foreheads.

"You!" They chorused. Lin blinked once... twice...

Thrice.

"**WHAT THE HELL YOU DAMNED KIDS!**"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Mornin, mayor of Syrup, knew he was relying on the kids too much, especially when they failed to show up for their morning ritual. They had been so diligent for the past two years of attempting to convince the town that pirates were attacking, that he was inclined to distrust the sun's position and continued to wait for his signal to go to work. His wife was still asleep.

Then he became worried when a knock came at his door, and he opened it to see Ninjin's mother, looking worried. Behind her were the mothers of the other two, Piman and Tamanegi, and they all asked the mayor if he had seen their sons. Mornin hadn't, but he'd be sure to keep an eye out for them. He inwardly reminded himself that they had yet to yell for pirates.

"Thank you, Mornin-san. I know that they usually would run through the village around this time..." Mornin suddenly realized why they were worried.

"You mean it really _is_ time for me to go to work? Why didn't-"

"**PIRAAAAAAAAAATES!**" Ah, that was better. Mornin breathed a sigh of relief.

"There you go, and here comes Usopp now!" There was a very long silence as said long nosed boy started from the hills, just like he always would, and race by the mayor's house.

"... USOPP!" The mayor raced to the door to see his retreating figure go through the house, and other incredulous cries as the men looked to see him. Then they all grinned and reached for their various weapons, which Mornin knew that they had never really put away (they never chased after the kids with weapons; they both respected that they missed Usopp and feared their mothers) then all ran after Usopp.

"GET BACK HERE YOU DIRTY LITTLE LIAR!" Mornin could hear Usopp's laugh even as he reassured the women that with Usopp back, their boys would likely turn up soon.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Usopp raced through the town, noting to himself as each of the usual men ran out the doors and after him. He reminded himself to keep his speed down, as he had gotten much faster over the past two years. Even as they shouted after him, he could see the large grins on their faces and gave them a grin in return.

It really was good to be home.

Even with him going slow(er), Usopp still managed to outrun them by the crossroads. Just as he planned. When he got to the tree growing there, he shimmied up it and lay on the branch to watch, giving a signal to the three above him. The villagers came into view, searching for Usopp, just as the branches above rustled and Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji all seemed to materialize in front of them.

There was a great silence as the crowd processed this new development. They were a town that kept up to date with the times and criminals, and there wasn't a town in the world that didn't know the Pirate King and his two most feared fighters by face.

Despite the fact that Nami had to resort to threatening with his debt, Zoro gave an evil smirk that Usopp knew meant the swordsman was enjoying himself. Luffy and Sanji both grinned along with him, and Luffy stepped forward just as Zoro stated

"Boo."

Usopp was impressed with the way the townspeople ran away screaming about pirates really coming. It almost put his own years to shame.

Almost.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"It wasn't funny." Lin scowled as the rest of the crew continued to laugh. Even Pika was laughing (traitor) and Sanji was on the other side of town. Not that she needed his protection or anything, but they were really getting annoying. Nami wiped away a tear of mirth.

"You have to admit Lin, that was a very Luffy-like moment. I could almost hear the cogs turning in your head!" Robin smiled.

"It certainly was a long procession. I feared your mind may have broken down." Lin slumped over.

"Et tu, Robin?" She muttered, much to Robin's amusement. The kids had woken up and, after learning the fact that Lin wasn't a witch, joined in with the laughter after hearing the story. Lin tried scowling even deeper, but this only increased their amusement. Finally she threw up her hands.

"Fine! I had a stupid moment! I would have laughed at it too! It can't possibly be that funny _now_ though!" There was a pause, and the laughter died out. "See? _Not funny_. I have a question Nami." Although she still had a smirk on her face, Nami finally managed to ask in a calm voice

"What is it, and how much will you pay?" Lin slapped her forehead.

"I just wanted to go into town and get some ketchup!" She exclaimed. Nami stared at her a moment.

"Again with the ketchup? What happened to the last bottle?"

"It was crushed by a dragon." The boys perked up at this.

"You mean the dragon that attacked the dojo?" Ninjin asked. The crew stared at him.

"How do you know about that?" Brooke asked carefully. Tamanegi beamed and reached into his pocket, drawing out an old newpaper. Nami took it and stared at the front cover.

"'Pirate King's first mate, Roronoa Zoro, slays dragon?'" She read out loud. Instantly the crew was looking at the story over her shoulder. Lin stared at the pictures.

"That is the most badass picture of a guy with a sword." She stated, looking at the blurred aura around Zoro. Franky pointed.

"What's it say on page seven?" Nami flipped the paper to the page. And the crew stared.

"People calling Roronoa Zoro..." Nami trailed off. Tamanegi grinned enthusiastically and handed them two more papers.

"These came with the newspaper! Aren't they cool?" What he handed them was two bounty posters, one Luffy's that now stated 'Pirate King; Mugiwara Luffy' (with a large bounty statement that made Nami drool at the sheer amount of zeros). The other was the headshot taken from the newspaper's picture of Zoro, titled

"The Dragon King?"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Mornin knew something was wrong when the villagers came back with ashen faces, screaming words that he couldn't understand. When they raced by his house, he came out and grabbed one of the men, who told him that Usopp had, in fact, been telling them the truth.

Then Mornin decided to investigate the matter himself. That was when the men protested, specifying that not only had pirates come, but the Pirate King himself was here. Mornin went anyway, and the whole group went along with him.

What Mornin had been expecting... he probably didn't get. He did, in fact, find the Pirate King on the edge of town. Along with the newly-titled Dragon King and Black Leg. And Usopp was standing with them. Laughing with them, even. The entire crowd had bugged out eyes as they watched, the four having their backs turned to them.

"That was so funny Usopp! You were right! Shishishi~!" The Pirate King laughed as he clapped Usopp on the back. Black Leg smirked.

"I have to admit, that never gets old. You would do this every day?" Usopp laughed.

"Well, it usually ended with me being in the tree until they decided to go away. This was obviously a little different than usual! Did you see the looks on their faces though?" The Dragon King jabbed a thumb behind him at the startled villagers.

"Probably something like that." At this the four whirled around, and Usopp winced and gave a sheepish wave when he recognized the mayor at the head of the mob.

"... Hi?" There was an awkward silence. The mayor cleared his throat and stepped forward, clearing his face.

"Usopp. Welcome back." Usopp gave a nod in reply. The mayor continued, looking directly at Luffy. "Pirate King, Mugiwara no Luffy. To what do we owe this... visit?" Luffy grinned.

"We're just here to let Usopp visit! And maybe get some supplies... I'll have to ask Nami though. She doesn't like spending money..." Luffy trailed off, looking thoughtful, much tot the horror of the villagers. Zoro rolled his eyes at Luffy's poor wording.

"He means we come in peace. We aren't here to pillage and plunder, etcetera, etcetera..."

"That's a big word for you marimo. Did you learn that all by yourself?"

"Watch it ero-cook!" The two snarled at each other as Usopp took two steps away from them. He cleared his throat.

"Has anyone told Kaya that I'm here?" When the group shook their heads he grinned. "Great! I wanted it to be a surprise! You don't mind if the crew shops around for a bit, right mayor?" Usopp looked pleadingly at the mayor, who regarded Luffy and the two fighting solemnly.

"... Alright." The mob broke out in instant protest.

"Mornin-san! They're pirates! And the Pirate King, no less!" The mayor held up a hand to silence them.

"And that's also Black Leg and Dragon King. I realize this. They are allowed in the village." The mayor left it at that, turning and walking back towards the town. "Welcome to Syrup Village, by the way." He called back. "If there are any problems, just ask for me." Usopp decided to run towards the mansion as the mob regarded the three suspiciously. They seemed confused as Luffy asked

"So who's the Dragon King?"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

When the three walked back, mob in tow, Lin was showing the kids a magic trick.

"So nothing up my sleeve, eh? And... BAM!" Lin pulled a small, flat rock out of Piman's ear. "No wonder you thought I was a witch; there are rocks in your head!" The other two laughed as Piman flushed red. The mob seemed startled at the sight of the boys, calling out

"Piman! Ninjin! Tamanegi!" The three looked up along with the rest of the crew. When Lin saw the weapons in their hands she almost panicked, until she noticed the three leading the way. Luffy waved.

"Nami~! The mayor said we can get supplies here! Let's get some meat!" When Nami ignored his enthusiasm in favor of staring at the mob pointedly, Luffy shrugged. "They wanted to follow us. They had to help Zoro get back almost twice!"

"Did not!" The mob sadly shook their heads. Lin grinned.

"Great! I can get ketchup then!" Nami turned to her.

"You need money, right?"

"No! I still have a little..."

"Then why didn't you give it to me?"

"It's Pika's ketchup fund! I'll give you anything else I can get, but I want at least a little to take care of Pika!" Lin pouted and Nami sighed.

"Fine. Just remember the rule." Lin almost went crosseyed along with Zoro, who walked down to the beach for a nap.

"Aw, come on! Zoro probably doesn't even want to go!"

"Damn straight."

"Then I suppose you'll just have to go on your own." Lin knew it was a trick answer. The second she would come back Nami would declare their debts raised. But she also did promise Pika...

"I'm going then." She stated, walking towards the town. Zoro sat up immediately.

"This affects me too!" He protested. Lin shrugged.

"And you don't want to go. That's your choice. My debt is still miniscule compared to yours, after all. I can afford a few trips." With that Lin walked away, Pika following.

Nami was quite proud when Zoro cursed under his breath and followed. She sniffed and wiped away an imaginary tear, turning to the highly amused Robin.

"She's growing up."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Usopp carefully swung his grappling hook over the wall, climbing up and peeking over the side.

Coast clear. The guards had apparently been declared obsolete (there was no one Kaya really wanted to keep out) and Usopp could have just as easily waltzed right through the gates.

But that would take away the purpose of making his visit a surprise. Usopp hopped the wall, hiding behind a bush. He spotted Kaya's window; now was his chance! Picking a small pebble from the ground, he carefully tossed it at the window and it made a small noise.

Nothing. Usopp made a small noise of disappointment after repeating the process a few times, and then peered inside the window to realize that the room was empty. He sighed and leaned back against the tree nearby; of course Kaya wasn't bedridden anymore, and would most likely be out whenever she got the chance. Then a small noise came from the side of the garden, and Usopp clambered up the tree almost automatically.

Kaya then came around the corner, and it was all Usopp could do not to stare. The Kaya Usopp remembered was pale, sick; but this Kaya (it was most certainly Kaya) was healthy, stronger. She carried a small basket full of what Usopp recognized to be some sort of herbs, gardening gloves on her hands. She walked over to the tree Usopp was in and carefully sat herself under it, pulling out a book after placing the basket aside.

Usopp leaned a little closer and looked at the book.

"'Basics of the Bloodstream'? Didn't know you were into that..." Kaya shrieked at the unexpected voice and jumped up, startling Usopp so he completely fell out of the tree and onto the basket. "Ow..."

"Usopp!" Kaya cried, helping him up. When he waved off her fussing, she wrapped her arms around him. "You're back!" Usopp grinned as she stepped back.

"And you look quite well. How are you?" Kaya smiled.

"I'm great. I heard that Luffy became the Pirate King, congratulations. What are you going to do now?" Usopp shrugged.

"We're just taking a break in East Blue. We're going back to Grand Line after some visits." Kaya's smile dropped slightly.

"Oh... I thought..." Usopp's smile dropped. He carefully patted her shoulder.

"Hey, I can still stick around here for a while; I can just meet everyone for lunch. You wanna meet my crew?" Kaya nodded and Usopp grinned. "They'd love to meet you! So what have you been doing with yourself?" Kaya held up the book in her hands.

"I've been studying to become a doctor. I've also been following your own doctor's work. He's quite brilliant." Usopp nodded.

"That he is. I know he'd love to talk with you; he loves talking about doctor stuff." Kaya smiled.

"I'd love to ask his opinion on some things... In fact, there were some herbs..." Suddenly Kaya trailed off and looked down. Usopp also looked down and stared. The basket that he had landed on was completely ruined, and the green leaves and roots inside had broken into smaller pieces and mixed together. Usopp stepped back in horror.

"Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Kaya waved him off.

"It's okay. I'll just pick some more from my garden." Usopp picked up the basket carefully.

"I can help you if that's okay. We can go meet everyone for lunch later." Kaya smiled.

"I'd like that. You can tell me some of your stories while we work." Usopp grinned back as they began walking towards her garden.

"I can say this now: They'll all be entirely true."

Merri watched the two walk away from the window, smiling to himself. He wondered briefly if he should have joined them, but one look at the happy smile on Kaya's face and he decided to leave them alone.

Kaya was always happiest with Usopp, after all.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Feh, I don't like it. I love picking on Zoro by Nami-and-Lin-torture, but I always feel like I'm doing something... wrong. I guess the intermissions on the ship are just so you realize the crew's progress in between islands. So when concepts come up on the islands you don't go HOSHIT WHERE DAT COME FROM. Just to clear that up. :D

Anyway, remember! **No more weekly updates!** Those days are OVER. Sorry, to those who enjoyed them even a little. I guess fifteen weeks in a row is just my limit. But I guess starting a weekly thing at the end of the school year was the dumbest idea ever... D:

Thanks to TheDML, silverstar94, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, allycat18, and Jasmin Liertha for reviewing! I really appreciate your reviews~! ^_^

Please review; you'll have more time to now. ;P


	18. Realizations

OKAY THIS IS ALMOST LIKE SOME SORT OF FILLER, BUT IT'S NOT.

Well, school's out~! 8DDD … And then comes summer school. TT But it isn't until tomorrow, so maybe _just maybe_ I can still pull this off and try and do Arabian Nights too. But I've hit a road block with it, and I'm not sure how to type exactly what I planned. Stupid brain...

This chapter has been brought to you by... 'Embers' by Vathara. Sorry, but that's all I managed. TT It's a huge story, and I've been busy with finals and all... 'Embers' is actually an Avatar: The Last Airbender fic, but... Oh well. I'm honest, right? And maybe you'll still go and enjoy it. :3

It's actually Zuko-centric, and is a sort of AU. It shows the struggles of the prince as he discovers a lost firebending technique, and from there makes some very, very different choices throughout the series. Putting a spin on dragons, healing, and the entire war with spirits, this is an absolute must for those that were unsatisfied with canon. And I can guarantee you, I am very displeased with canon. Especially Aang and Katara. Those two piss me off greatly. Katara for being so dramatic and whiny and princess-y, and Aang for being so damned _happy_ about being an irresponsible little twit that's supposed to save the entire world. If you share my opinion, you will understand how immeasurably happy I am with 'Embers'. Or if you don't, you'll just like the Zuko and Iroh awesomeness. Cuz Iroh never got enough love in the series. :D

Really. GO READ IT. O3o

I've also posted the summary for the sequel to Horizons on my profile, because I'm happy I finally managed to iron out those funny little details and such. I already have the rough draft of the third in my head, but the _planning_ it will take to get it up and going... TT

Yes, I know this fic is barely half way done. But it doesn't kill to plan ahead, right? :D

I don't own One Piece. Hm, do I really need to say it about Pokémon...? Nahhh, this ain't no crossover. :D

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"**I'm a lover of reality. When I argue with What is, I lose, but only 100% of the time."**

**Byron Katie**

Lin walked down the street with a smile on her face, Pika on her head, and Zoro walking alongside her. Lin watched Zoro out of the corner of her eye; she didn't want to lose him, after all. The townspeople recognized Zoro immediately and gave the two a wide berth. Even so, she was pretty pleased with herself.

"Thanks for coming with me!" She said. Zoro only grunted.

"Hn."

"Pika also appreciates it, right Pika?"

"Pikapi."

"Hn."

"... So where _is_ the store, anyway?"

"Hn."

"Okay, now I know that you're probably the wrong person to ask..."

"Hn."

"Can you say anything other than 'hn'?"

"No." Lin stared at Zoro incredulously.

"..." Zoro only continued walking. Lin paused. "Hold up, I'm going to ask for directions. I think you need to stay here." Zoro blinked.

"Why?"

"Because the very sight of you is turning these poor innocents into quivering puddles. Stay here." Lin placed Pika on the ground near Zoro. Pika blinked up at the man and scrambled up onto his shoulder, yawning. Zoro turned his head and scowled at her, but she only curled up against his neck, closing her eyes.

Zoro was very displeased, but left the little mouse where she was.

Lin walked up to one of the villagers that was eying Zoro warily. "Excuse me, could you tell me where the store is?" The man eyed her suspiciously but gave her directions. Lin nodded. "Thank you." She walked back to Zoro, fighting a smile at Pika's position.

"I think she likes you, Onigiri-sensei."

"Hn." They turned down another street until Lin sighted the store.

"Found it. You can stay here." Lin walked in while Zoro stayed behind. Lin simply browsed until she found a small bottle of ketchup, then brought it to the clerk. After purchasing it, she walked outside and looked around for Zoro.

When she didn't see him immediately, she simply looked around calmly.

When she couldn't find him after five minutes, she began to get worried.

When she asked one of the (now calmer) villagers if he had seen him and they simply shrugged, then she began to freak out.

"You gotta be kidding me!"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Zoro stopped and stared at the wall in front of him in confusion. He could have sworn that the town was just on the other side of those trees...

Zoro had, in fact, not meant to wander too far. He had seen a small shop nearby that seemed as though it had a sword collection, and he had gone to investigate. When the swords turned out to be some sort of cheap imitations, he had turned back on what he thought was the right street. And then he turned down another one, pausing at the edge of town in bewilderment.

He turned and walked back into town, only to soon find himself at another edge. Zoro therefore came to the conclusion that he was _not_ in town, but in a small community just outside the forest. Therefore he decided that if the community was on _this_ side of the forest, then the town must be on the _other_ side of the forest. It was sound logic, despite the fact that he didn't remember walking through any forest to get to here in the first place.

Until he met the wall. Pika slept this entire time, still nuzzled up against Zoro's neck, as he looked up with a scowl. Well, if there was a wall in his way, then fine. He'd go over it. He tapped the small mouse on the head.

"Oi." Pika sat up with a yawn (that was _not_ cute at all, Zoro told himself.) She blinked sleepily.

"Pika?"

"We're going over the wall. Don't fall."

"Pi." Zoro took that as an affirmative, and scaled the wall in no time. Jumping down on the other side, he blinked at the sight of the back of a large mansion.

"This isn't town." Pika stared at him incredulously, then looked around quizzically.

"Pikachu?" Zoro could fairly guess what she was asking even as he continued walking.

"I don't know where Lin is. She decided to leave me in that place, the witch."

"Chu?"

"It's not _my_ fault if she deserted me!"

"Pikapi."

"I don't get lost. The damned town wouldn't stop moving... Is that Usopp?" Zoro and Pika blinked to see Usopp on the other side on his knees, chatting with another girl. Zoro decided he trusted Usopp not to rat out to Nami about him losing Lin (even if it was her fault) and walked over to them.

"Oi." Usopp and the girl turned and blinked to see the swordsman standing there. The girl blinked.

"Zoro?" Zoro stared at her face; she seemed somewhat familiar... Usopp coughed.

"Zoro, you remember Kaya, right?" The name rang a faint bell in Zoro's mind, but he couldn't remember for the life of... Oh.

"Oh. Right. Your friend that gave us Merry." Zoro nodded to himself. "Kaya." Kaya smiled.

"Good to see you again. Congratulations on your dream." Zoro gave a gruff nod. Pika hopped down and came over curiously to the herb in Kaya's hand.

"Pikachu?" Kaya blinked.

"Who's this?" Usopp patted Pika's head.

"This is Pika. She joined us along with Lin. Speaking of Lin..." Usopp turned to Zoro. "Aren't you supposed to be with Lin? If Nami catches either of you..."

"She ran off. I turned my back for one minute and she was gone; then the town disappeared. And Nami won't find out." Kaya couldn't really detect any hint of a threat in Zoro's words or face, but Usopp shuddered nonetheless and nodded in agreement.

"Of course not." Kaya nodded at the deformed basket at her side.

"Well, we finished a little early. We can help you get to town if you like." Zoro scowled slightly.

"I can find the town. I don't need help." Usopp nodded in agreement with Kaya.

"It won't be a problem Zoro. We can help you find Lin too. I imagine Nami won't be happy if..." Zoro simply turned.

"Fine. You can come. Just don't slow me down."

Usopp and Kaya exchanged a glance before following after him, Pika running ahead and jumping to her position on Zoro's shoulder.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Yasopp dragged the dinghy ashore, swallowing. He turned and gazed at the cliffs around him, staring in confusion.

"Claw marks?" There were gashes in the rocks all around him, and small craters in the ground. Despite the heavy damage, it looked old. Yasopp couldn't think of a reason for a pirate to attack his little village, and he wondered vaguely if Luffy had anything to do with it.

Yasopp shook his head at the thought; Luffy would never attack a town. Besides, it looked more like some sort of battle was fought here.

He decided he'd ask about it in town. Although, Shanks didn't drop him off at his home island to play detective. It started when Shanks had known that Luffy would head to Syrup, and evolved into leaving Yasopp with a small dinghy about a day away from the island. It seemed nearly impossible to navigate his way to the northern coast of the island (he knew that the village would be easiest to sneak into then) but he had finally made it.

And he wasn't going to be picked up by Shanks for a few days; with only that much time to make up with his son.

Yasopp knew it was his own fault; leaving behind a sick wife, there was always the possibility that she wouldn't survive his homecoming. It was bad enough that Usopp had lived on his own the entire time, but also that he, his own father, had never known until he met him all grown up. Yasopp walked up the path to the village, miserable.

He didn't know anything about his son; didn't know what his dream was, what his favorite pastime was. He didn't know if he was as great a sharpshooter as Banchina had stated he would be when she first wrapped up that tiny, long nosed bundle...

Yasopp shook his head. He knew Usopp was a great sharpshooter. Hell, his bounty name was 'Sogeking', for crying out loud! It took some serious shooting to gather that kind of name from the marines, this he knew from experience. But he had never seen Usopp handle a gun before...

Yasopp blinked as he saw someone running towards him, yelling. He wasn't really well known in town before he left, and didn't think that anyone knew he was coming. It was an odd girl (and Yasopp had seen weird people) wearing black, with odd blonde hair in her otherwise brown hair. She was shouting something as she came up, but when she came in sight of Yasopp fully she slouched in disappointment.

"... You're not him." She stated dryly. Yasopp seemed confused as she sighed. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else. Wait..." She peered at his face and then blinked rapidly. "... You're Yasopp." Yasopp nodded slightly. "... Usopp's dad." Another nod. The girl grinned slightly and held out her gloved hand.

"My name's Lin. I'm... ah... Luffy's new... nakama, I guess." Yasopp gave an 'oh' as he shook her hand, confused about her hesitation. Shanks had mentioned that Luffy got some new nakama in Fuchsia, but... "Anyway, I'm looking for Zoro. You know- Of course you know Zoro. But still." Lin sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Nami's gonna kill me if she finds out I lost him. I only turned my back for only one minute and- Wait a second, why are you here anyway?" Yasopp seemed amused at her thoughts; they kept bouncing like she was under stress.

"Well, since you know me, I assume Usopp mentioned me." Lin nodded, hesitating.

"Yeah... Kind of awkward." Yasopp sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Tell me about it. Fuchsia didn't go so well, as I'm sure you heard. Captain let me off around here; he'll be back in a few days." Lin made an 'o' with her mouth.

"You're here to see Usopp?" Yasopp nodded. "Cool. He went to see Kaya right now, but I think you know the way to the mansion. But if you see Zoro..." Lin trailed off, looking sheepish. "... I really, really need to find him. Nami'll have my head. It's just not humanly possible for one guy to be so much trouble." Yasopp shook his head with a grin.

"Girl, you don't know trouble until you've met my captain. He's a walking headache with red hair and a tendency to chug any and all alcohol in sight." Lin smiled slightly.

"I think Nami can debate that, but not the alcohol part. That's Zoro. Hm..." Lin rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I wonder... I didn't check any bars... Looking in the forest is pretty much hopeless, and he could be all the way back in Shimotsuki if I don't hurry. But maybe he went back to the beach...?" Lin shook her head. "Nah, then Nami would know. He's not _that_ stupid." Lin groaned to herself.

"I'm gonna die..." Yasopp looked as though he were about to laugh at Lin, but manfully forced himself to only nod solemnly.

"I could always help you look, you know." Lin looked up hopefully.

"Really? I mean, don't you want to find Usopp first?" Yasopp winced slightly.

"I..." He cleared his throat. "I'm trying to patch things up with him, not push him away. I don't think it'd go over too well if I let one of his nakama run around like a chicken with its head cut off. Besides," Yasopp teased. "You'd probably chase off the villagers with that kind of search method." Lin turned red at the statement.

"... I'm not that scary." Yasopp laughed and clapped Lin on the back.

"Girl, you scared _me_; and I'm a pirate!" Lin sputtered indignantly, but huffed.

"Fine. I was acting weird. Fine!" Lin threw up her hands. "Help me look then! You do know how lost he can get, right?" Yasopp shook his head.

"No. He probably just took a wrong turn somewhere, right?" Lin sadly shook her head.

"You are seriously underestimating how bad his sense of direction is. Wrong turns can be solved with pieces of paper with directions on them. He gets lost _following_ people."

"... I'm not sure I believe you, but then again, the world is a vast place." Lin snorted.

"Tell me about it." Lin turned and began walking back towards the town, silent as Yasopp followed her. As they walked along the road Yasopp jammed a thumb back at the shore.

"So would you happen to know what happened back there?" Lin blinked, but looked back. Oh. The north beach. Where Kuro had invaded...

"No. Why?"

"It looks like the place was really chewed up. Or clawed." Lin wasn't sure how to answer that.

"... I'd ask Usopp." Another awkward silence, and Lin mentally slapped herself. "So," she stated, attempting to relieve the silence. "You see the paper on the dragon?" Yasopp nodded.

"Yeah. Crazy stuff, that. Neat bounty name, though. 'Dragon King'." Lin grinned slightly.

"Yeah, I don't know if Zoro knows about it though. We weren't... around when the newspaper came by." Yasopp blinked.

"Not around?" Lin winced.

"Forget it. I'm not sure if I was supposed to bring that up. Well, maybe it's okay, but..." Yasopp held up a hand.

"Don't. You'll start rambling."

"Right." The two finally reached the town by this point, looking around thoughtfully. A few villagers stopped and stared at Yasopp as though they might recognize him, but shook their heads and moved on. Yasopp seemed uncomfortable at the attention.

"I don't think I was ever expected to come back." Lin shook her head.

"Probably not. Reminds me of this one song I once heard."

"Really?" Yasopp murmured as another villager looked at him oddly. He was grateful he had the sense to cover up his tattoo on his forehead; recognition was something he didn't exactly want at this point. "So why did you hesitate when you mentioned being part of Anchor's crew?"

"..." Lin paused momentarily, but then shook her head and continued walking. "I don't really think I'm a real crew member." Yasopp blinked.

"Why's that?"

"Well... you see..." Lin hesitated, but settled for a honest response. "I'm not allowed to be here." Yasopp shrugged.

"Not allowed? That's somewhat understandable; we're all pirates, after all. Anchor himself probably isn't allowed to be a pirate; and he's the Pirate King." Lin shook her head.

"It's not that. I'm not allowed to be _here_." Lin waved her hands at the sky, the town, and at Yasopp. "I'm not supposed to be anywhere near anyone here." Yasopp wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"... So... you weren't supposed to leave home?" Lin nodded.

"Exactly. Didn't want to, either."

"So why did you...?"

"I got... lost, I suppose. I only got on their ship because I needed a ride home, but..." Lin trailed off, then slowly rubbed her arm. "I just found out I'm not allowed to go back home either." She muttered, nearly inaudible. Yasopp stared at her for a moment.

"... You know, if it's a place that you're not allowed to go back to, then it's probably not worth any trouble of attempting to find." Lin shook her head.

"It's not _home_ that isn't allowing me back, it's..." Lin bit her lip, forcing herself to stop the rant that she wanted to go off on. "Never mind. It's nothing. I'm just hanging around the crew until I'm caught. I'll get caught eventually. Then they'll send me somewhere else, but I need to just enjoy myself until then." Lin sighed, then turned and forced a grin at Yasopp. "Usopp made me these really cool weapons. He made both his and Nami's weapons, too. He's a genius about that." Yasopp blinked at the change of topic, but smiled slightly.

"Really? What does he use for a weapon anyway?"

"A giant slingshot."

"..." Yasopp stared at Lin incredulously. "You're kidding." Lin laughed.

"I'm dead serious. But that thing's got a serious punch to it. Way more than any gun could ever hope. It shoots even farther than a gun, too. Usopp loves to tell people about it. And then Nami's weapon!" Lin grinned and held out her hands in length. "It's amazing! It's this thing that controls the _weather_, and zaps people with lightning." Yasopp shook his head slowly.

"I heard that the Pirate King's crew was weird, but this... I'm not sure I'm one to talk, but Anchor seems to have rivaled even Shanks in varied nakama." Lin smiled.

"Probably. You've met Brooke and Franky, right?" Yasopp nodded.

"A skeleton and a cyborg. What gets me is the tanuki. Is he really the pet?"

"Reindeer. Chopper's the doctor."

"... What a vast world. It's like Anchor's brought together all of the people of this world and the next." Lin almost laughed out loud at the irony.

"You have no idea."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

They had been walking for almost an hour and a half, but still no sign of Lin.

Usopp was excitedly telling Kaya about his battle in Thriller Bark, accenting his words with waves of his hands. He still watched Zoro out of the corner of his eye though; no one was really stupid enough to look away from him from too long. Except Lin; but she was new. However, Zoro almost managed to slip away while Usopp was describing Dr. Hogback to Kaya, turning completely off the road as though he was following an imaginary path.

It turned out that Pika was quite useful, deciding to zap the man from his shoulder. Zoro jumped back onto the path as Usopp and Kaya turned around; Zoro glared at Pika but she only curled up again, making Kaya coo at the little mouse and Zoro roll his eyes.

Usopp knew he was fond of animals, but his tolerance for ones that summoned electricity to punish wrong turns was just plain ridiculous.

Ah well, at least that was a load off his shoulders. The four then blinked when two figures appeared on the path; they were walking back towards the town. Usopp recognized Lin (a black-clad figure was easy to identify) as she waved.

"ZOROOOO!" Zoro scowled.

"Damned witch acts like _she's_ been looking for _me_ this whole time."

"I think she was, Zoro." Usopp dead panned. Kaya giggled as Zoro glared at Lin, who was running up. Pika leaped down and jumped in Lin's arms.

"Pika pikapi!" Lin only hugged Pika.

"Good to see you too... I think? I can't believe you wandered off like that, Onigiri-sensei! I was only in the store for two minutes, how the hell did you disappear like that?" Zoro glared.

"Tch. I'm the one left behind in that little place. How the hell did you leave me somewhere when you when you went to town?" There was a long silence at this.

Lin stared at Zoro. "... I think you need to explain your logic." Zoro scowled.

"What's to explain? You left me somewhere and wandered off to town by yourself! And on the other side of the forest, no less! The witch would have had my head, damn it all! Don't do that!"

"... This is what I was talking about." Lin stated dryly to the man next to her. He laughed.

"I didn't really believe you, but..." This was when the group seemed to finally register the man's presence. Usopp stared as Yasopp awkwardly rubbed the back of his head with a small wave.

"..."

"..."

"... Usopp." Usopp nodded slightly, face blank.

"... What are you doing here?" Yasopp winced, but attempted a smile.

"What? I'm not allowed to visit my own hometown?"

"You're late." Lin carefully edged closer to Zoro as Yasopp flinched like he had been socked in the gut. Lin held up Pika to no one in general.

"Yeah... see, Pika's still covered in dirt. I'm... gonna go do something about it." Lin awkwardly shuffled away, Zoro following with a shrug. Kaya glanced back at Usopp worriedly, but followed after them.

Usopp waited until they were out of sight before turning to his father. Yasopp seemed more than uncomfortable, if the way he was fiddling with his gun was anything to go by. Usopp wasn't quite sure why the man was here, but he knew that things couldn't go as they had last time. He really did go looking for him, and he did want to share at least a part of his life with his own dad.

"... Sogeking's pretty amazing." Usopp blinked and turned back, where Yasopp was looking at him with a careful expression. "I heard he shoots farther and more accurately than any gun, and that he's a brilliant inventor." Usopp offered a small smile, a little too awkward to start into a story like such praise might have begun.

"Where'd you hear that?" Yasopp nodded where the others had gone off.

"Mostly the girl. Stories about it in the newspapers, too. Like Enies Lobby." Usopp stared back.

"Lin? Really? I don't think she's ever seen me fight..." Yasopp shrugged.

"She's weird. Said you used a giant slingshot called... Kabuto?" Usopp wondered idly how Lin had known that. He never recalled mentioning it to her... He nodded.

"Yeah. Made it myself!" Usopp reached behind his back and pulled out said weapon proudly. He grinned inwardly at the look of wonder as Yasopp carefully inspected the slingshot. Yasopp reached over and fingered the small pocket at the end of the bands, amazed.

"Is this...?"

"Dial from Sky Island. Interchangeable, too, so I can do different shots with different ones." Yasopp shook his head incredulously.

"Ingenious. I remember running into Vegapunk's inventions all across the world, but his were more based on new, barely explored science. This is the basics, the oldest and most well known of science, yet to combine it in such a manner..." Yasopp let out a chuckle. "They would never know what hit them. Who expects such fire power from a giant pachinko slinger?" Usopp smirked slightly along with him.

"Along with not expecting storms from a staff, it only makes Luffy seem all the more amazing. It's really been great, sailing with him..." Usopp smirked slightly. "He always knew he'd be the Pirate King. We all knew it too, from when he first came to us. You should have seen what he did when Kuro..." Usopp trailed off awkwardly, looking around for people on the long road as they stood. Yasopp raised an eyebrow.

"This Kuro fellow wouldn't have anything to do with the way the northern beach was torn up, would it?" Usopp looked up at him.

"It's a long story. But lunch isn't for another half hour. Want to... hear it?" Usopp asked cautiously, and Yasopp almost smacked the back of his head for such a stupid question.

But he only nodded and paid rapt attention to his son as the two slowly walked back on the road.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Lin scowled as she raked her fingers through Pika's hair for the umpteenth time, feeling more sand fall out and onto the bench she was seated on.

"This. Sucks." Pika had an eerily similar scowl to Lin's (though she really couldn't see) and nodded.

"Pika pikachu." The language barrier seemed to only wear on Lin's mood.

"And I don't even know what that means! But I think it's safe to assume, based on your mood, that you _won't_ go rolling around in sand again." Pika nodded firmly. "Great. I hate lectures."

"No one ever said you had to give them." Zoro yawned, thoroughly bored. Lin, Zoro and Kaya were sitting on a bench near the edge of town, a few blocks from the restaurant they were to meet at. Kaya didn't pay much attention to them, staring back at the road where Usopp was.

"... That was Yasopp." Lin nodded, scratching Pika's back. More sand fell and she stared incredulously at the growing pile of discarded sand.

"_Damn_, Pika. I don't even think there's that much sand on the beach itself!"

"Usopp used to tell me stories about Yasopp..." Kaya murmured, an abstract look on her face. Lin blinked and realized something quite important.

She wasn't supposed to know this person. It was quite troublesome, though trivial compared to other things, how she had to remind herself what she wasn't supposed to know about. It was like those drama movies where the person with amnesia _got_ amnesia in the first place so they'd forget about you. And then you dropped right back into their life, and had to pretend that you didn't have a thing to do with them ever.

It never ended well in those movies. The person always found out, eventually...

"-achu... Pikachu... Pika!" Lin yelped as a small jolt of lightning ran through her nervous system. Not enough to hurt, but enough to snap her out of her thoughts. She shook her head, turning to the concerned pokémon at her side.

"Sorry, Pika. Thanks."

"Chu." Lin then reminded herself of her revelation and turned to Kaya.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we've met properly." Kaya blinked herself out of her thoughts and gave a start as she turned to Lin. Lin smiled slightly. "My name's Lin."

"Kaya. I'm sorry, I must have seemed so rude..."

"Don't worry about it. Bad timing, you know? I'm just glad someone found Onigiri-sensei before he found himself somewhere in the Netherlands."

"Where?"

"Never mind..." Kaya smiled, then paused, tilting her head to the side.

"... Onigiri-sensei?" Lin rubbed the back of her neck self consciously. She glanced back at Zoro, who appeared to be asleep on the bench. Lin shrugged.

"It's a reference to something where I'm from. See, there was this really cool video game I used to play, and in it was this character named Onigiri-sensei that would teach you fighting moves. I just thought of the guy when I met Zoro, that's all."

"... Video game?" Lin felt her eye want to twitch, but kept it from showing. These poor, deprived people.

"_That_ is a subject that branches off of many, many complicated things. Let's just say, I miss them. A lot." Kaya giggled at the look on her face.

"I'll take your word for it." Pika looked at her curiously.

"Pikachu?" Lin's face scrunched as she attempted to understand.

"... That's a question, I know it is. Shoot. Um, is it about the video games?" At Pika's nod, she shrugged. "I can explain it later, then. It's pretty complicated for someone that didn't grow up with them. I remember my first Game Boy like it was yesterday..."

"Pi pika." Pika shrugged. Kaya looked down at Pika curiously, then turned back to Lin.

"If you don't mind me asking, what is she?"

"She's a pikachu. A type of pokémon." Kaya blinked, and Lin silently reminded herself that not everyone grew up playing pokémon. "Sorry, but that's pretty complicated too. Let's just say that it's a whole other species that you will _never_ find anywhere around here. If you do, then something is seriously wrong with the world." Kaya seemed a bit put off by Lin's serious nod, but let it go. She turned back to the road, and suddenly stood.

"There they are." She sighed in relief. Lin blinked and looked the same way, noting with a bit of relief of the way Usopp was waving his hands like he was telling a story.

At least they were getting along. Lin knew it couldn't have been easy, but an ice breaker was really all they needed. Leave it to Usopp to make that ice breaker a grand story. Judging by the way his arms were moving and the various words that floated to the group, he was talking about... nothing Lin had ever heard of. Who the hell was Sabo, and what about nobles? Even if the name did seem to itch at the back of Lin's mind...

"Well, shall we go?" Lin blinked as Zoro stood and yawned. She looked around and realized that it was most likely time to go meet the others for lunch.

"Okay. Food. Yay."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Nami knew the instant that she saw Lin walk in with both Zoro _and_ Kaya at her side, and smirked at Lin. "So how long did it take you to find him?" She relished the startled expression on Lin's face.

"... Until half an hour ago." Lin admitted, much to Zoro's disapproval. If the scowl on his face before he sat next to Luffy was anything to go by. Nami had to give her credit for being honest.

"Well, at least you found him." Nami muttered. "Normal, sane people would have given up after the first hour. And if they really had a clue of just how lost Zoro can get." Lin chuckled slightly.

"I'm pretty sure I have a good idea. He accused me of leaving him in a _different_ town on the other side of the forest, then coming back to _this_ town." Nami only shook her head sadly as Lin seated herself with a sigh.

"I'd apologize for dumping that on you, but we're all far too relieved at not doing it ourselves." When Lin looked up at the rest of the crew, no one would meet her eyes. She huffed.

"Fine. Whatever." Then the table grew almost awkward as Usopp walked in with Yasopp. Yasopp coughed and gave a small wave.

"Nice to see you again. Usopp was just telling me a story, and I hope it's alright if..." Franky gave him a thumbs up.

"Join us!" Luffy grinned as the two sat down at the table (two tables really, pulled together to accommodate the crew.)

"Say, is Shanks here too?" Yasopp shook his head.

"Captain said he'd come back in a few days. Until then I've been marooned." He stated dryly. Lin grinned at the word.

"That's why Shanks reminds me of Jack Sparrow. All he needs are dread locks and a pair of sea turtles!" The crew stared at her and she flushed. "Never mind." Robin smiled slightly.

"If you keep making such odd references, we may have to force answers out of you. I hear there are many things one can do with a rope and a river with a strong undertow." She said. Lin shuddered, but answered.

"_Captain_ Jack Sparrow was this pirate. No, he was _the_ pirate of the Caribbean. So. Cool." Lin grinned at the thought. Usopp rolled his eyes.

"Just how many cool people are there?" He demanded.

"I have a list."

"..." Luffy's eyes lit up.

"Oh! You said something about a song that Jack Sparrow used to sing about pirates!" He exclaimed, pointing at Lin. Lin seemed confused.

"When did I say that?" Nami shrugged.

"When you were drunk. You were about to sing it until you passed out." Lin blanched.

"Please tell me that I didn't sing before that..." When no one answered she slumped over until her head hit the table. "I am, _so sorry_." Chopper carefully patted her arm.

"It wasn't that bad..."

"I felt as though my ears were about to fall off! And I don't even have any!"

"Brooke!"

"Not helping, Skeleton-bro!"

Nami smacked the back of Brooke's head. Lin shrugged. "It's okay. I've heard it played back to me before. I thought I was going to go deaf." She stated dryly. "But other than that, I'm not sure why you'd want to sing _that_ song by Sparrow. It's about more typical pirates." Nami blinked.

"How so?"

"The first chorus goes 'we pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot, drink up, me hearties yo ho.'" Lin said, careful not to sing. "'We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot...' The rest of the song is like that... I still like Jack Sparrow though." Lin added as an afterthought. Nami stared at her.

"... And you thought we would like the song, _why_?_"_

"I was drunk. And it's got a really catchy tune."

"... I see. Any other... odd heroes we should know about?"

"I have a whole list of them. Why?"

"Because we somehow end up meeting them. First with Ryuuma, and now with this whole other dimension thing going on, there's always a possibility." Lin blinked, and opened her mouth, then closed it. Processed this...

"I want to meet Batman. I don't care if he goes mad ninja on my ass, I really, really want to meet Batman." Nami slapped her forehead.

"It's like dealing with a _guy_."

"Hey!" Yasopp blinked.

"Other dimensions?" Usopp shrugged.

"I'll tell you later. Lin's a trans-dimensional human." Yasopp stared at Lin and opened his mouth to say something...

"_No_, damn it all, I _am_ a _girl_! Trans-_dimensional_, not transvestite!" Lin snarled at him, leaning forward in her seat. He closed his mouth and sat back.

"Sorry." Lin sighed.

"No, I'm sorry. It's just the first thing people say when they hear that. You probably weren't even going to-Never mind." She cut herself off at the guilty look on Yasopp's face. "I don't want to know."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"So then there's Sherlock Holmes, and he's amazing~!"

"You've said that about the others, too, Lin-san."

"Doesn't make them any less amazing! This is my list of amazing people, after all. Sherlock Holmes is the greatest detective of all time! He can tell so much about you with just a glance! _He's even better at it than Batman._" Lin whispered with wide eyes, as though such a thing were some sort of blasphemy. The crew began to wonder if Lin's obsession with Batman was really all that healthy. Luffy, however, stared at Lin with sparkles in his eyes, the large stack of empty plates beside him a testimony of his sated hunger. The entire crew had eaten, but it was Luffy who had polished off their plates. After such, Usopp had asked curiously about Lin's list of cool people.

Now they all had to pay for it.

"With only _one_ _glance_? How?" Lin was quite pleased to find someone who shared in her enthusiasm.

"Well, he sees little things about people and can make guesses about it! Like... um..." Lin paused and looked around, clueless. "... Brooke is... dead?"

"So we've noticed."

"So I'm not as good a detective!" Lin threw up her arms. "Fine then! How about the fact that it looks like he could remove the top of his head, it's so cracked!" Brooke gave a nod and proceeded to do so, much to the amusement of the group. Except for Lin. "I DIDN'T SAY TO ACTUALLY DO IT!"

"You asked..."

"NO I DIDN'T!"

"Why are you yelling?" Brooke questioned. Lin took in a deep breath.

"I just have a _tiny_ problem with you _removing_ the top half of your head. It's like something will spill out! It's just _not okay_!" Brooke reached a hand into his head. "THAT'S NOT OKAY EITHER!" He drew out the Tone Dial.

"Hm, perhaps it would be best if this didn't fall out..." Lin felt her eye begin to twitch. Even Yasopp was taking it much more calmly than she was, and it irked her. She may have known Brooke could do that, but to see it in person was a whole different matter. It was spooky, to say the least.

Act curious, she reminded herself. You still have a part to play.

"What is that?" She asked, though not bothering to try and sound _too_ curious. Zoro caught on quickly, after all. Brooke held it out for inspection.

"This is a Tone Dial. It contains a recording that I must deliver to an old friend." He stated. Lin looked it over. It seemed unharmed, though she doubted Brooke would have let anything happen to it.

"Cool. It's like a tape recorder."

"A what?"

"Never mind. It's something that's been somewhat outdated, anyway." Brooke hmmed as he looked down at the Dial.

"Only a little while longer, Laboon..." He murmured, placing the Dial back in his head and closing it. Like a cookie jar, Lin thought. She twitched at the image. Robin noticed.

"What's wrong, Lin-san?"

"Like a cookie jar..." The crew wasn't sure they wanted to know. Luffy stared at Brooke with an almost thoughtful expression, and it almost scared Lin when he turned it to her.

"So what's _your_ dream, Lin?" Lin blinked rapidly.

"... My dream?" Chopper looked at her eagerly.

"You know, what you want to do!" Lin blinked. She did, in fact, have some ambition in life. But it was kind of awkward...

"Ummm... I can't really do it here..."

"What is it?" Luffy prodded. The entire crew stared at her curiously, and she could feel her face start to heat up.

"... I wanted to be a detective." There was a collective '_Oh_' around them. "Yeah, as in _law enforcement_. I wanted to get into the police academy after high school. Feh." Lin blew her hair out of her face, slumping back against her seat. "Love to see pirating on my resume. I'd make a great inside joke." Nami stared at her.

"... Aren't you upset?"

"No? Why would I be- Oh. Right. Well, maybe Isshu needs detectives, right? I could be like one of those private eyes, with my little pikachu partner." She looked down at Pika, who looked up curiously. "Right, Pika? Doesn't bad guy chasing sound fun? It makes a great story too; there's probably something like that on Fan Fiction. The adventures of the teen detective and her pokémon partner." She held up her hands like words. "Very cliché. But still fun, I guess. I never did think that going on a pokémon adventure was for me, anyway. I like detective stuff. Maybe a wandering detective..." Lin trailed off, wondering about the odd twist in her stomach at the thought.

Yes, it would be fun. But it would mean leaving the Straw Hats forever, and the idea was something that was rather painful to bring up. Nami looked at her oddly.

"Isshu?" Lin swallowed heavily.

"... Never mind." Nami held up her hands.

"No, not 'never mind'. What do you mean by Isshu? Isn't that where Ayumu said you'd be sent?" Now the whole crew was quite, watching Lin. She didn't look up.

"... I'm going to be caught eventually." She stated, voice hollow. "I can't hide forever. Organizations like Ayumu's don't get formed behind sloppy paperwork and blowing off check ups. It's unrealistic. It's crazy. It's bad to think that I'll be here forever." Lin paused for a moment, tracing patterns on the wooden table. "It's fun, and I love it, but I still miss home, you know? But I can't go back home, and I can't stay here forever. It's like moving. Except I don't think the post office sends letters across dimensions." She forced a chuckle. No one else laughed. Lin stood awkwardly and tried to flash a smile. "But that's okay, because this is still really great. I don't mind prolonging it, either. I personally hope I don't get caught before this New World place. It sounds really cool." When no one answered she coughed slightly.

"... I think I left the ketchup I bought somewhere. I should check the store." Lin all but flew out the door.

No one said a word.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Smoker slammed down the receiver with a heavy scowl, even as Tashigi stared at him incredulously. They were in his private quarters on the marine ship, and _had_ been planning to head to Logue Town, but...

"You... agreed?" Smoker almost winced as Tashigi's voice reached a far too high pitch.

Almost. "Fleet Admiral's orders, Tashigi." Tashigi exploded.

"You _never_ take orders from anyone, especially for something as vile as an _ambush_!" She snapped. "How is this honorable? You've pursued the Pirate King honorably without a hint of any such deception, and suddenly you're agreeing to _ambush_ his ship while his cook is visiting his _guardian_!" Smoker raised an eyebrow.

"His guardian's a pirate himself. Red Leg Zeff, if the reports are correct."

"**I don't care**!" Tashigi really must have changed over the years, Smoker thought bemusedly, for her to say such a thing about any pirate. Tashigi pointed a finger accusingly. "This isn't like you at all! For you to agree to do the World Government's dirty work-"

"What did you say, just now?" Tashigi blinked. He didn't seem mad, only patient. Waiting.

Meaning there was something she was missing. Tashigi forced herself to take a deep breath and repeat herself. "Do the World Government's dirty..." She trailed off as a thought occurred to her, and she frowned. "Dirty work. This isn't like them, not at all." Even after all of the crimes committed in the name of 'justice' these past two years, none of them were so... blatant. Obvious. "They're up to something." Smoker nodded, and waited again.

Tashigi's face slowly widened into a smirk as she stared at her superior officer. "You think something big is happening. And you want to find out what." Smoker slowly stood and pulled a fresh cigar out of his pocket, though put it away with a grimace at Tashigi's look.

"The tides on the world are changing, Tashigi. Something good has come out of what was supposed to be the greatest horror the world as seen for a quarter of a century, and the Fleet Admiral knows it. He's panicking. But I think there's something running a bit deeper than this whole thing, and I want to know what it is." He turned to Tashigi with the closest thing to a grin he could ever manage. "They said to ambush them, but only _after_ established contact. However, they didn't say to _attack_ them, and they certainly said nothing against a short talk." Tashigi stared.

"_Talk_**,** Smoker-san? What could you possibly learn about that we don't know already?" Smoker gave her a hard glance, as though inwardly debating with himself. He gave a hard sigh.

"Tashigi, the Fleet Admiral's brash actions show that the order of the world is splitting in two. The Mugiwara's have gotten a taste of the things to come, and they most likely have a good guess at what's brewing. They're the only ones that have been over the horizon of their wrath and back, and we need all of what we can get if we want to sail there ourselves."

Tashigi said nothing as she gave a stiff salute and walked back to the deck. She glanced over the side of the ship as the sun slowly sank beneath the horizon, and contemplated just how little she knew about the world, despite sailing the entire length of it.

And she wasn't sure she wanted to know what was over the horizon.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Okay, so yeah, I did have a reason I named this story Horizons. So sue me! … Actually, please don't. I hath no muniez. TT

And yesss, I fixed the Usopp and Yasopp thing with minimal angst. I rewrote it about five times, but that's okay, right? You guys only see the final copy, and not all of those horrid other attempts at patching up such a thing. And Smoker and Tashigi do, in fact, have a place in my plans. xD

Yes, Lin _is_ somewhat realistic. And right about the mystery organization. Foreshadowing? :O But kind of a crappy note to walk out on. Poo. And it would make an interesting fanfic... I dare you all to go and find this story for me. Go and find the 'teen detective and her pokémon partner'. I'd like to see it come to life. 8D

The chapter lengths are now free game too. I'll keep them at five thousand word _minimum,_ but I'm kind of tired of ending chapters at awkward places. You know, it's just _not okay_.

And remember, I have the summary of the sequel posted on my profile. Total. Mystery. Stuff. Happens. Oh my...

Special thanks to marsnmonkey, allycat18, eternitybeckons, EVIL DUSTBUNNY OF DOOOOM, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, TheDML, and amyismynamey for your lovely reviews~! Here's a challenge if you fell inclined to review: tell me what parts you _didn't_ like along with what you did! This helps me improve greatly!

Linhae, OUT.


	19. Uninvited Guests

Okay, I'm going to say this:

I know the last chapter was stupid, but you could _say_ so! Only having three reviews (and only two of them for the last chapter itself) is really, really depressing, yo. That, and the fact that ArabianNights gets far more response than this story. So I'm working on that a _lot_ more than this one. Seriously.

But don't _ever_ think I've abandoned this story. Ever. I still have plans for this story! All the way up till the New World. Then I go into a little slump and say WHAT NOW. But that's not for a while.

Anyway, so this week I read 'Naruto Hatake' by Agent-G and 'On the Alteration of Species' by olafpriol.

'Naruto Hatake' (I've gone into Naruto. Curses.) is one of those 'what if Naruto was raised by...?' fics I've come to love. Without bashing. If any of you are in to Naruto, you'll know how hard this is to find. No Sasuke bashing, no Kakashi bashing, no Jiraiya or Sarutobi bashing, NONE. Moving on, it's the story of Naruto being raised by Hatake Kakashi! Yay. With serious changes to Naruto, Kakashi, and the whole cast of characters and plot. Seriously. Epic. Go read it, yo.

'On the Alteration of Species' is amazing. Seriously. The Straw Hats all crash into an island (yes, they _crash_ into an _island_) completely built on entertainment. When unwillingly made the attraction of the latest magic show, they are transformed into animals! Cornered by marines, the furry pirates are out to find their way back to humanity (minus Chopper) and solve the mystery of the World Government having such an interest in the island...

Okay. That's good now. Chapter reading. Now. I can't wait to get past this arc...

I don't own One Piece. BAM.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

**"Nobody can be as agreeable as an uninvited guest."**

**~Kin Hubbard  
**

When Usopp arrived at the breakfast table the next morning, Kaya immediately knew that the crew hadn't talked to Lin about what she had said. It wasn't that he looked worried—he actually seemed _calm_ about it—but it was more the way that Lin almost flinched when they said good morning to her. But then she'd smile and greet them back, shoving any worry to the back of her mind it seemed.

When Kaya found that the crew was planning to stay in town until Shanks reclaimed his sniper, she had immediately offered them rooms in her mansion. This almost sparked protest of the townspeople present, but they were silent for some unimaginable reason. Most likely something the mayor had said. So the Pirate King's crew had stayed in Kaya's guest rooms, and she had plenty enough for one per crew member, and offered them anything a real host would offer esteemed guests.

This hadn't stopped Sanji from waking early and cooking for them.

"Sanji! Food!" A thump, and the rubber captain was sent skidding away from the kitchen and into the seated blue-haired shipwright.

"Not until it's ready!" Sanji yelled from the kitchen. Luffy sent away from the table by the indignant cyborg and he pouted to himself.

"Meany Sanji. It _smells_ ready." Kaya giggled at the expression on his face from where she sat, Nami shaking her head beside her.

"I hope you don't take Luffy's behavior the wrong way; anything besides attempting to steal the food before it's ready makes us think he got into Chopper's medicine cabinet." Kaya waved a hand.

"I completely understand. The cooking certainly smells like so much has been put into it—it's hard to believe there's anything more that can make it even better." Various shouts of praises and shoe tapping were heard from the kitchen, and Kaya would have bet anything that Sanji was almost _dancing_. Kaya then turned to Lin, who was staring at her plate almost emptily with Pika sitting on her lap.

Hm. "So Lin," Kaya started, and Lin blinked her gaze up to her. "What's your home like?" There was a startled silence at this, Usopp staring at her with a stare that exclaimed 'What are you _doing_?' Kaya ignored them and watched Lin.

Lin only shrugged. "It's home. It's... Hm, a lot of what this place doesn't have, that's for sure." She stated dryly. She gestured towards the kitchen. "Like a _microwave_. What kind of place doesn't have that? A sad, sad world indeed." Lin sighed dramatically. "Then there's the cars. Fun to drive, easy to crash, crazy awesome to speed. Not that I've done it, but with the amount of people that do it despite the huge chance they'll go up in flames, there's gotta be something to it." She shook her head in disbelief. "Then there are planes, and hovercrafts, and helicopters, and it's all _modern_. We don't use little snails to talk, or any living things. We use machines. Lots of them." The table seemed startled at such a thing. Franky seemed wowed.

"A _machine_ to talk to people? What about the Den Den Mushis?" He asked.

"They don't exist." Lin stated. "That's what home doesn't have, a lot of what you guys do. Devil fruits? Unheard of. Swords? Only used as decorations, and not much fighting at all. (Zoro twitched) Guns? Bullets aren't round. They're tipped." Lin glanced over at Luffy, who was actually paying attention. "I don't think bullets would bounce off of you there. If it was point blank range, I think you'd actually get _shot_." Luffy stared. The crew tried to think about this, and shivered.

"So, don't let Luffy in Lin's world. Fair enough." Usopp muttered. Lin shrugged.

"Just saying. If you guys ever find any modern guns, don't count on Luffy jumping in front of you." Robin looked at Lin.

"Our technology is considered 'modern' to us, Lin-san. What is your modern?" Lin blinked, then thought carefully.

"... That's a good point." Lin confessed. "But as far as I know, we used to use round bullets too. I think that stopped actually pretty recently. Let me rephrase: If you find anything other than guns that don't look like yours, don't count on it. Not that I'm telling you to go look for guns or anything." She grinned, but gave Luffy a careful look anyway.

Kaya wasn't sure she wanted to know why. "Sounds... interesting. How many of the people on your list are from there?" Lin waved a hand.

"Oh, none. Worlds similar, but none from our world. You don't get very many awesome people like that in our world. Except Theodore Roosevelt. He was cool too. But then there are whole other worlds, like benders." She blinked suddenly. "Huh. That's an interesting thought."

"What is?" Luffy prompted. Lin bit her lip, but shrugged.

"Nothing, it's just... From what I've heard of logia type devil fruit users, are they _made_ of their element or do they also _control_ it?" Chopper paused to think it over.

"Well, none of us are logia users." Chopper admitted. "But I think they're only able to control what's part of them, and nothing outside them. Absorb their element, and _then_ able to use it, but... What does that have to do with benders?" Lin leaned back in her chair.

"There's this story called Avatar: The Last Airbender." She started, then scowled slightly. "Another story for another time. But there are certain kinds of people there that can manipulate the four basic elements. Water, earth, air, and fire. They aren't _made_ of the stuff, but a lot of them can control any form of it." Lin explained. "So it means that they can control the sea and such, and move dirt around even if they weren't touching it. Real dangerous stuff." Luffy's eyes glittered.

"Sugei..." He breathed. Usopp shook his head in wonder.

"Are there any cool people from there?" Lin nodded.

"Yep! I only liked a few people from there, really. There was Sokka, Iroh, and Toph." She counted on her fingers. "Sokka and Iroh are on the list, but Toph is okay too. Sokka used a boomerang. And a sword." She gave Usopp a pointed look, and he blinked.

"... Together?"

"No, he uses a regular boomerang and a meteor sword. Separately. But you can probably guess why I liked the boomerang swords so much." Usopp nodded in understanding.

"What was Iroh?"

"This crazy old retired general that loves tea. Also a firebender. The ultimate form of old people badassity." The crew decided not to comment on that. They were stopped by Sanji then coming in with the food, and all other topics seemed to fly out the window.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Yasopp stretched as he walked out of the hotel, looking up at the sun in the sky. Another beautiful day, and one in his hometown, no less.

He'd been offered a place along with the Pirate King, but... He wanted to experience the town again. Not many recognized him anymore, and so it was fine like that. Yasopp yawned and walked along the road to the mansion, eager to see if he could grab some leftovers from breakfast...

But when he was shown by the caretaker into the dining room, the first thought was _marines_. Or a massive attack from a whole fleet of enemies. But the only thing in sight was the crew themselves, all seated at a table. Sort of.

"That's _mine_!"

"Luffy, eat your own food!"

"OW!"

"Ha!"

"You stabbed me with a _fork_!"

"Be grateful it wasn't a sword up your-"

"ZORO!"

"Witch!" A chunk of table was decimated at this, along with a good portion of greatest swordsman in the world. Yasopp stood shock still at the scene in front of him. And he thought Shanks' ship was bad...

Food. Everywhere. And rubbery limbs at every plate, snatching off bits of food before his crewmates could react. Those that could responded with sharp utensils or even a plate slamming on fingers. And the crewmembers were fighting amongst themselves for the food when their own plates were raided, and not to mention the sabotaging of food, the throwing of food, and the two animals scrambling on top of the table to grab food and shove it into their mouths, completely forgoing any plate.

And the four girls that sat as far away from the table as possible, plates of food balanced on their knees and wryly amused looks on their faces. Except for the navigator's. She looked about ready to kill someone, even as she stood and only glared at them furiously.

"At someone _else's_ house, no less! I'm _so_ sorry, Kaya," Nami turned to the bemused blonde girl behind her. "They usually aren't _this_ bad." The two dark-haired girls both turned and gave her a look, and Nami buried her hands in her face. "Oh God, they _are_. How did it come to this?" She plunked into the chair beside them and sighed. "We'll fix everything. I promise." Kaya waved a hand.

"It's fine. It's also quite entertaining." She giggled. "I've never seen a group of people so... enthusiastic about food. I can imagine how others might react to such." Nami blew out a frustrated sigh.

"They did the same thing in the _royal palace_ of Alabasta too. Right in front of the _king_. But at least it hasn't- _Oh_." Nami buried her hands in her face again, and Yasopp noticed how Luffy had swelled up like a balloon and was rolling all over the table, the crewmembers punting him like a ball in a game while still attempting to eat. Chopper and Franky were dancing on the other end of the table, Brooke playing some upbeat tune for them. The little pikachu was clinging to Usopp's face, and Usopp was running around the table at an incredible speed, shouting "Geroff, _GEROFF_!"

Yasopp had never laughed so hard in his life, and the four girls themselves were in near hysterics.

**Crack! CRUNCH!**

… And now it was time to retreat. Today was full of first apparently, because Yasopp had never retreated so quickly in his life.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"You _idiots_!" Nami stood in front of the crew, all lined up with their heads down. A perfect picture of an orange-haired mother abashing her teenage (and middle-aged) children. She shook her fist threateningly at them, the girls (and Pika) behind her.

"First you go and make fools of yourselves _at some one else's house_. Then you go and make a mess _in some one else's dining room_. And now you go and break _some one else's table_! You," Nami snapped, pointing at Franky. "will build Kaya a new table! It will be the best design you can think of that matches the interior of their dining room! That means no weapon modifications _at all_!" Franky immediately ran outside for wood. "And you!" She pointed to Usopp, Brooke and Chopper. "You three will clean up this mess _and there will not be a speck left_!" Usopp opened his mouth to protest.

"What about Sanji?"

"Sanji-kun didn't do anything! Except make us this delicious meal."

"Thank you Nami-swaaan~!" Nami nodded and set her face back to business.

"And you!" She pointed to Luffy, who blinked and grinned.

"Oh! Can I help Franky build the table?" Nami could think of a thousand things that would go wrong and involuntarily shuddered.

"No. You are going to the ship and bringing back _one _diamond. Not the whole bag, just one! We need to pay these nice people for their hospitality. Don't speak, Kaya." She said, making Kaya shut her mouth instantly. "We're more than a handful, I guarantee. It's the least we can do." Nami turned back to Luffy sternly. "And to make sure that you don't destroy the town on the way to the ship, you're going with Zoro!" Zoro blinked.

"Why me?"

"Because I said so!"

"..."

"... And to make sure you two don't get lost... Lin! You're going with them!" Lin jerked forward, eyes wide.

"But why?" Nami turned and frowned at her.

"One: these two have the worst sense of direction _in the world_! Two: I need someone that uses basic common sense to make sure they don't get distracted! Three: **the rules are still intact**!" Zoro smirked at the look on Lin's face.

"Not so great when turned on you, eh?" Lin scowled, crossing her arms.

"Hn."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Johnny and Yosaku stood side by side in the small dinghy they owned, frowning to themselves.

"... It's not the Going Merry anymore." Yosaku stated flatly. Johnny nodded.

"Obviously poor Merry couldn't keep up with them. But it doesn't change anything!" Yosaku nodded, holding up the two cloth pieces.

"Are you sure about this? Is it really the best idea to sneak attack on the World's Greatest Swordsman?" Johnny rolled his eyes, snatching away one of the cloths and tying it over his face.

"This is Zoro-aniki we're talking about! Besides, we don't know half of the crew. Do we really want to show up and introduce ourselves as the bounty hunting duo?" Yosaku sighed and nodded as they pulled up to the ship.

"Then I guess we better find Aniki first."

The two nodded and simultaneously scrambled up the anchor chain. Boots thudding on the deck, Johnny lifted a finger to his mouth and made a silent 'follow me'. Yosaku nodded and the two carefully snuck over the grass lawn.

Suddenly Johnny whimpered and made a face, clutching his gurgling stomach. Yosaku grimaced as his own stomach replied. Loudly.

"It's been a while since we ate, we were in such a rush to get here..." Yosaku muttered. He cast a glance to the side then, an odd look in his eye. "Oi Johnny, doesn't that look like a galley?" Johnny followed his gaze to the door that was standing slightly ajar, a table just visible. He hesitated, but then his stomach gave another sound off.

"I... I'm sure Zoro-aniki won't mind _too_ much... right?" Then their stomachs gave an extra painful protest, and the two made a mad scramble for the door.

"I call the fried beans!"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Robin patted the sleeping Pika in her lap, looking for all the world like a dignified villain with an odd mutant cap.

"How long do you suppose they'll be?" Kaya wondered, eying the clock. They'd already been gone for half an hour, and Kaya was starting to worry. Robin smiled slightly.

"They're always gone for long periods of time. Captain-san and Swordsman-san have the tendency to go in the opposite direction of where they want to go, and then they usually find some sort of man-eating monster that wishes to battle them to a gory death."

"..."

"But I'm sure that won't happen," Nami put in, smiling reassuringly. "Even with Lin making them go in the right direction, I'd give them at least a couple hours." Kaya blinked.

"Why?"

"That's just the way they are. It's not easy leading two knuckle heads to a ship and keeping them on task. It'd be a miracle if they get here before lunch."

"... Oh." Nami sighed at the still worried glance Kaya shot at the door.

"Don't worry. We didn't get around the world the easy way, you know. Lin may be new, but the others are still... somewhat capable. They'll be fine. Really." Nami stated firmly. Robin nodded.

"I doubt this island's population would be satisfactory for a monster invasion. Too few people to feed a horde, and too many for a single one."

"..."

"..."

"CAPTAIN!" Usopp whipped his head up from setting down Franky's new table in the middle of the clean dining room, grinning.

"In here!" The two boys were led into the mansion by Merri. Usopp blinked at the sight of Piman and Ninjin.

"Where's Tamanegi?" Piman shrugged.

"Dunno. We were all supposed to come and see you, but..."

"Tamanegi never showed up!" Ninjin exclaimed. Usopp shrugged.

"I'm sure he'll..."

"CAPTAIN!"

"... Be here soon." Usopp finished as Tamanegi burst through the door, panting. "There you are!" Tamanegi looked at him, eyes wide.

"Captain! There's two weirdos invading your ship!" He exclaimed. Franky stepped forward threateningly.

"What's that now?" Tamanegi gulped.

"W-Well, I was walking along the cliff and I saw your ship... And there was a little boat next to it! There were these two guys in it, and they climbed right into the ship!" Franky pulled his sunglasses down, face murderous.

"Try to rob our ship, eh? I'll show them! Who were they?" Tamanegi shrugged, intimidated.

"Well... there was this one guy with a headband and shorts, and another with sunglasses with a tattoo of 'ocean' on his face." He said, pointing to his own cheek. Both of them were wearing these weird coats and had swords." At this the East Blue members relaxed.

"Those two? Why are they here?" Sanji muttered, taking a drag on his cigarette.

"You know them, Sanji-san?" Brooke asked. Usopp nodded.

"They're a couple of bounty hunters we met. They're good friends of Zoro." Franky paused.

"... Bounty hunters? Friends of Zoro?" Usopp nodded.

"Of course! You didn't think 'Pirate Hunter' was just for looks, did you? Zoro used to be a famous bounty hunter around here!" There was a collective silence from the crew members that didn't know this.

"... So what do we do then?" Chopper asked awkwardly. Sanji shrugged.

"Knowing those two, nothing. They'll show up around here eventually. Or they'll run into Lin-chan and the other two."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Lin looked up at the Thousand Sunny and sighed in relief.

"We're here. It only took one hour, four misdirections, seven backtracks, and three bumps to the head, but we're here." The bumps in question were still visible on Luffy, who had seen at least five different things that distracted him from their quest. Zoro only needed to use violence three times. Luffy stopped rubbing his head and cheered.

"We're here! Let's go!" The three made their way to the deck and stood around the mast.

"I'll go get Nami's diamond. Be right back!" Luffy said, running below deck.

Zoro took one look at the retreating Luffy and sighed. "He's going to take at least twenty minutes." Lin blinked.

"Why?"

"The idiot always forgets which bag the diamonds are in. Then he gets a hold of the old weaponry, and it all goes to hell from there." Lin wasn't sure what to say to that, so Zoro only yawned. "Get him in twenty minutes. I'm going to sleep."

"Eh? But it's still morning!" Zoro only began climbing up to the crow's nest.

"And I'm not going to get a better chance for peace. Twenty minutes." Zoro repeated, slamming the hatch shut. Lin rolled her eyes.

"I think he'd drop dead if he didn't take naps."

"Damn straight." Lin yelped and scurried into the nearest door, slamming it shut and sighing.

"How could he even hear me...?" She muttered to herself, then froze.

... The first thing that came to mind was '_Intruders_!' The second thing that came to mind as she noticed the plates of food in their hands was '_They're stealing_!'

Lin never got around to the third thing, already jumping forward and landing what many would call a sweet tackle on the closest man, who dropped the plate he was holding.

"Ack!" Lin grabbed the man's arm and shoved him on his back, whipping his arm into a lock. She gave it one hard twist and jumped up, ignoring his yelp as his shoulder came out of its socket. Giving him one last kick to the floating rib, Lin ducked as the second man came forward with a grab and gave an upward jab to his throat, making him stumble backwards and choke.

One kick, three jabs, and a well-placed knee later Lin stood, breathing raggedly. She reached down and picked up her hat from where it had fallen, dusting it off.

"... Ow."

"That wasn't even ten minutes of quiet." Lin jumped and turned to the doorway where Zoro stood, arms crossed. He scowled at her. "Where are your swords?" Lin awkwardly tried to remember.

"Um... I think I left them in the crow's nest?" Zoro nodded, still scowling. Lin blinked. "... What?"

"Do you know the swordsman's code?" Lin scrunched up her face.

"Bushido? Not very well. Doesn't that usually end with a sword in your stomach?" Zoro sighed heavily.

"That's a no then. If you're going to learn swords, you need to learn the code. First rule: Clean fights _only_." Lin's jaw dropped.

"But... But then I'd _lose_!"

"So then you train harder."

"Not everyone survives losing a battle, damn it! We don't all have freaking Chuck Norris tolerance for getting cut into ribbons!"

"Aniki..."

"Who said anything about ribbons?"

"The big ass scar on your chest that screams _almost_ _cut_ _in_ _half_!_"_

"Aniki."

"Who's Chuck Norris?"

"Never mi- DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!"

"OI!"

"WHAT?" Lin and Zoro snapped, turning to the two on the ground. The first man weakly raised his hand to his face and pulled off the mask. Zoro swore under his breath.

"Johnny?" Lin then went cross eyed as she really looked at the damage she'd done to what she realized was an old friend of Zoro's.

"... Oops?"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"I am, _so sorry_." Lin apologized for the hundredth time as she refilled their drink. "I thought you guys were bounty hunters or something!" Johnny and Yosaku were fine, after all (Lin hadn't used any bone-breaking methods) and were now enjoying the spoils of her guilt. Namely sitting at the table while she served them food, Zoro standing in the corner bemused. Johnny, for his part, only nodded.

"We are."

"..." Lin inwardly slapped her forehead. "In that case, I thought you guys were going to attack me." Zoro snorted.

"Not us?"

"While sneaking onto the Pirate King's ship makes this statement questionable, I don't think they're suicidal, Onigiri-sensei." Yosaku nodded.

"Of course not! We only go after small time, after all. And we would never attack Zoro-aniki!" Lin sighed as she sat in a nearby chair.

"How do you know Zoro anyway?" She asked conversationally.

"We used to travel with Zoro back when he was a pirate hunter," Johnny stated through a mouthful of food. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"Class." Lin only said. "Zoro was a pirate hunter? Weird. Luffy most definitely has questionable hiring skills. Pirate hunting on a resume for pirating would make most people put you in a straight jacket." Zoro stared blankly.

"... What?"

"Luffy's weird."

"Ah."

"... Speaking of Luffy," Lin suddenly stated out of the blue. "Where is he?"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"I don't believe it." Lin muttered. Whether it was at the large room filled to the brim with treasures, reminding her somewhat of _National Treasure_, or the fact that Luffy was pinned to the floor by a bunch of jeweled daggers that made her say so was unknown.

"Idiot." Zoro stated as he nudged Luffy with his foot. "Wake up." Lin twitched.

"He's _sleeping_?"

"I told you this would happen." Luffy stirred and awoke, blinking sleep out of his eyes.

"... Hey Zoro!" He said. Zoro only began pulling daggers out of his vest, releasing him from the floor. Lin's eye didn't stop twitching.

"How the hell did that happen?"

"... I dunno." Luffy said, sitting up. "I was just looking." Zoro sighed.

"Johnny and Yosaku are here. You have the diamond?" Luffy nodded, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a diamond the size of his fist. Lin tried not to stare.

"..." Luffy blinked.

"What?"

"... Never mind." The three walked out on deck, where Johnny and Yosaku were waiting. Luffy grinned and waved.

"Hey guys!" They greeted him back as Zoro looked at Lin, crossing his arms.

"Go get your swords." Lin blinked.

"Why?"

"You need to carry them with you." Lin frowned.

"But... I don't have a sheath or anything..."

"Then carry them." Lin seemed surprised, but quickly protested.

"I can ask Usopp to make one or something. In the meantime I'd rather not carry around sharp objects in the presence of civilians! Especially uncovered ones! We're on thin ice with them already!" Zoro gave her a flat stare.

"Swords. Now." Lin only grumbled and turned to the crow's nest.

"Common logic is overrated then." She growled under her breath.

"I heard that."

Lin had never scurried up a ladder such as that moment.

Johnny watched her all but fly up the hatch, bemused. "What a weird girl." Yosaku nodded.

"Although she's not a bad server." He said, turning to Zoro. "Where'd you meet her?"

"Fuchsia." Zoro said. Johnny blinked.

"... Never heard of it."

"Luffy's hometown."

"Ah." There was a long silence as they waited for Lin.

"This is boring." Luffy grumbled. "When's she coming? Is she always so slow? I bet she got distracted!"

"Like you're one to talk." The three deadpanned.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"I can't hit them from behind?" Lin demanded. The group was walking along the road to the mansion when Zoro had decided he needed to fill in Lin on how she was supposed to fight. Zoro nodded.

"And no kicking. Ero-cook does enough of that." Lin twitched.

"What about when _other_ people decide to not fight fairly?"

"Then you fight like I tell you." Lin threw up her arms.

"What about punching then?"

"Only if you don't have swords. And you _will_ have your swords with you." Zoro's face and tone didn't change, but nonetheless Lin gulped and nodded.

"Swords with me. Gotcha." Lin was saved as the mansion came into view. "Oh look, we're here only an hour after lunch. I wonder if there's any food..."

Luffy zoomed into the house at the speed of light.

"... Left." Lin slumped over as she realized the answer now that Luffy was there. "Dang."

"Don't worry, Lin-sempai! We ate back at the ship!" Johnny assured her. Lin slapped her forehead.

"Congratulations. This doesn't help me." They all walked inside, where they were all greeted by the crew.

"Wow, only an hour after lunch!" Nami said. Lin shrugged.

"Johnny and Yosaku helped... Kind of..." Said duo saluted.

"Glad to be helpful, Nami-sempai!"

"Stop calling me that!" They ignored her, instead staring directly at Franky.

"..."

"..." Franky stared back.

"... Zoro-aniki, who's this?" Franky's eyebrows shot up at 'aniki', but he remained silent. Zoro waved a hand.

"This is Franky. Franky, Johnny and Yosaku. Johnny and Yosaku, Franky." Johnny and Yosaku stared at Franky for the longest time before nodding.

"Super." Lin slapped her forehead when Franky's jaw dropped.

"What have I done?"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

There was a long, tense silence as the chefs all stared fixedly on the table nearest the door. The customer sitting there pointedly fixed his stare on the menu in front of him, ignoring the harsh whispers. Across from him, his partner looked around, chewing her lip awkwardly, then flinching away whenever one of the chefs met her eyes.

"... Smoker-san, this was a bad idea." She finally stated. Smoker looked up from the menu.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Tashigi." He said gruffly. "We're just two regular customers at the most esteemed restaurant in East Blue."

"That's bullshit and you know it." A voice said. Smoker and Tashigi both looked up to see a stocky man with a peg leg and a permanent scowl on his face. "Vice-admiral Smoker." He said, nodding. Smoker nodded back.

"Red Leg Zeff." He turned back to the menu. "I'll have..."

"What do you want?" Smoker eyed him.

"Poor service. I was about to say so." He sighed and leaned back in his chair, then answered "I'll have anything." After a long silence Zeff snorted in disbelief.

"I've seen countless marines come through here, Vice Admiral. All of them only here for good food and willing to turn a blind eye to pirates. You? None of those things." Zeff stated flatly. Tashigi stood, slamming her hands on the table.

"We're just here to talk to the Mugiwaras!" Instantly the restaurant grew silent, Tashigi clapping a hand to her mouth. Smoker rolled his eyes.

"Good going, Tashigi. Why don't you tell them everything else?" He muttered.

"He obviously wasn't going to leave us alone until we answered!" Tashigi cried, still red from embarrassment. "And you weren't going to answer!"

"That's because it's _classified_."

"..." Tashigi slowly sank lower and lower into her chair. "... Oh." Zeff chuckled under his breath.

"I'll get your drinks then." Walking into the kitchen, he was immediately intercepted by Patty.

"Boss! Are you really going to let those two stay here?" He demanded. Beside him Carne nodded.

"They're obviously here to capture Sanji!" Zeff rolled his eyes.

"They're here to talk. Just as they said." Patty and Carne stared at him.

"You can't believe them, sir!" Patty exclaimed. Zeff eyed him.

"I would always forgive a deceiving young lady for her lies," Zeff told them. "But I never accuse an honest one for the truth. They may be above turning blind eyes to pirates, but they are also above ambushes. We let them stay."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

_I swear_ Johnny and Yosaku are Oda-sensei's first tryouts for the Franky character. Johnny wears sunglasses, Yosaku lacks pants. Both have those crazy poses, and they call Zoro 'Aniki'. I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY.

Please review. Seriously. I can't update quickly when I don't get reviews, it's kind of depressing... I promise that the next arc will be _so much better_. It actually has plot, for one. Serious plot advancements.

Thank you to Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, allycat18, and silverstar94 for your reviews!


	20. Impressions

'Ello Writer's Block. It's been a while. But I still conquer thee WITH OVER TEN THOUSAND WORDS, muahaha~! xDDD

Wow! You guys _did_ review! I'm so happy I could cry... TT Hey, you guys might be even catching back up to **Arabian Nights** with the review count! It's somewhat close, but either way they're both really close to one hundred reviews...

I hope we make it. I really do.

Now, in this moment of semi advertisement semi credit, I give you... 'Fox Leaves' by AyumiFallassion and 'Feeling Hollow' by Daricio. A Naruto fic and a Bleach fic, respectively. :P

A super special thanks to Jasmin Liertha for recommending 'Fox Leaves'! The story of Naruto in the 'what if' scenario that... KYUUBI NEVER ATTACKED KONOHA. :O Instead, in a kidnapping attempt gone wrong, the son of the Fourth Hokage is taken as a baby, only to be rescued by a demon kitsune with nine tails... No more vague stuff: Naruto: Raised by Kyuubi. W00T.

'Feeling Hollow' is amazing. Seriously. In the 'what if' scenario that instead of going with Shinji and the other Vizards for help with his inner hollow, Ichigo instead decides to do things his own way. Now in a partnership of sorts with 'Hichigo', he's going to have to deal with Hueco Mundo and Aizen while showing his friends that his inner hollow _can_ be trusted... Right?

Jeez, only fifteen hundred words into the chapter and Yasopp's already gone. I'm really sick of this arc, in case you haven't noticed. After this one I have... *counts on fingers* four more arcs to go! I call them... 1, 2, 3 and... TheLastOne! How long will they be? Well, from longest to shortest they go 3, 1, 2, and TheLastOne. Yes, I'll name them as they come. Actually, 1 is named Baratie Arc. 2 is named Cocoyashi arc. And 3... This is a mystery arc that I'm fairly excited to get to~! TheLastOne is called so because... IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER OF THIS STORY! *faints* Yes, if all goes according to plan the last arc is only about one chapter long. No time for dilly dallying in Logue Town, really. Except for that- *gets bricked* NOT GONNA SPOIL IT.

Mental rant aside, that means this story is halfway over! Or further than that. I confuse myself. 3 is going to be fairly looong, so we never know. Rest assured it's actually quite an exciting arc... WITH BAD GUYS AND FIGHTS AND PLOT DEVELOPMENT AND WOOOOOOOT. 8DDD

God, I need to lay off the caffeine. Please read on.

Don't own One Piece.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

**"You never get a second chance to make a first impression."**

**~Unknown  
**

"So what happened to Johnny's shoulder?" Chopper asked carefully as he positioned himself at said man's side, holding his arm. The shoulder had been dislocated, and even unnoticed until the duo had attempted their customary pose and Johnny had yelped, crumpling to the floor dramatically.

Lin seemed to be looking anywhere but at Chopper as Yosaku stepped in.

"Lin-sempai thought that we were attacking her, and she-MMPH!" Lin dashed forward and slapped a hand over Yosaku's mouth, giving the reindeer a cheesy, innocent grin.

"Nothing." Chopper hesitated.

"But..."

"Nothing at all." No more was said on the matter, as Chopper then set Johnny's shoulder back in place. Johnny yelped and dropped again, causing several eye-rolls and a teary comforting from Yosaku.

"Johnny!"

"A hair's breadth..." Lin only slapped her forehead.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

An hour later found Lin sitting in a chair, crossing her arms and grumbling to herself. She still remembered that embarrassing walk through the town while having to carry her swords in her hand, causing half the villagers to retreat down another street and the other half to follow the group with narrow, suspicious eyes all the way to the mansion.

So the first chance she got, Lin informed Usopp of her predicament. Usopp's eyes had widened and he muttered something about completely forgetting, then retreated into his room where his bag was.

And now, an hour and fifteen minutes later, Usopp finally reappeared, looking somehow both sheepish and proud.

"I already had the materials for the sheaths and straps," Usopp explained, holding out two identical items. "I just forgot to put them together! Anyways, they go on your back." Lin grinned slightly as she inspected the two sheaths.

Sweet, was the first word that came to Lin's mind. The sheaths' shape fit most of the boomerang swords, though there was room for the end to stick out enough to get a firm grip on the blades. The metal sheaths were bound in black, thin leather, similar to her gloves, with long black straps to go around her chest. On the curve of the sheath was a white diamond pattern resembling the pattern on the swords. When Lin pulled them on, the straps crossed each other and formed an 'X' across her chest, making Lin grin almost wickedly.

"That? Looks awesome. Were you but around when comic books were made."

"Eh?"

"Never mind." Lin picked her swords off the nearby table and slowly slid them into the sheaths. She paused, then reached back and pulled one out again, noting how she apparently had to pull at an odd angle to get them out.

"I couldn't have them falling out all the time!" Was all Usopp said when asked. Lin made a few more practice runs with drawing the swords before turning back to Usopp, grinning.

"If only genius and badassity were so combined at home. I swear we'd have no global warming." Usopp decided not to question what seemed to be a compliment, instead puffing out his chest.

"Well, they don't call me the great Usopp-sama for nothing! I defeated 'Global Warming' when I was naught but a mere boy, valiantly-"

"You're killing the moment."

"Sorry." Lin only shook her head.

"Do you think we can get some more practice with throwing them? No more orange trees to wreck, right?" Usopp paused thoughtfully. He hadn't worked with Lin since they'd first gotten in trouble with Nami, and Lin _did_ need to learn... He nodded.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Yasopp had decided to finally return to the mansion, cursing himself the entire way. So what if the table had been broken in half like that? That was no reason to run away! Although the sudden fire in the navigator's eyes had been... scary.

Terrifying. Hell searing. Life threatening. Every good reason to flee. Yasopp let his thought process run in circles as he raised a hand and knocked on the large door. The sheep like man that answered blinked owlishly before bowing his head politely.

"Yasopp-san? Are you here for Usopp-kun?" When Yasopp nodded the man shook his head. "I'm sorry, but he's gone somewhere with Lin-san and her pet. I'd try the south-west cliff; they mentioned something about practicing."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

**Shunk!**

"Ha! I caught it that time!"

"No... The tree caught it." Lin pulled her boomerang sword out of said tree and grimaced.

"Close enough. It was still closer than last time. Right, Pika?"

"Pikapi." Pika gave Lin a thumbs down, sticking out her tongue. Lin slumped over.

"Et tu, Pika...?" Lin scowled inwardly. She hadn't managed to catch the boomerang sword on its return. Not once. She'd gotten better at throwing, but when it came to catching it was all Lin could do to yelp and duck.

"What's going on here?" Lin and Usopp both jumped and turned to see Yasopp standing by an impaled tree, looking around. Usopp grinned.

"Hey," he greeted. "I was just trying to teach Lin how to use her swords." At Yasopp's request he was handed one of the swords for inspection. Yasopp looked over the blade with a raised eyebrow.

"Magnets?" Lin pointed to Pika.

"My partner conducts electricity." Yasopp stared openly at Pika.

"I've never heard of an electric rat thing..." He mused, not noticing Pika's sudden twitch or Lin's look of horror at his words. He did, however, seem to have a sixth sense for when a female was pissed, even those of other species.

"Pika..." Pika's cheeks flared with electricity as she crouched, eyes narrowed. "CHUUU!" Lin and Usopp winced as Yasopp barely ducked a large shot of lightning, the bolt instead crashing into a tree behind him. Lin rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Um... Sorry?" Yasopp laid face down in the grass, vaguely twitching from his near death experience. "She's a pikachu, and hates to be called anything else." After a long silence Lin shrugged. "Nice dodge?" She offered.

Yasopp coughed and rolled onto his back, looked up at Lin with the most sarcastic face he could muster. "Years of practice." He replied wryly. Lin blinked.

"Really?"

"No. I call it 'Dumb Luck'." Groaning, Yasopp gingerly lifted himself and stared warily at Pika. "That's one hell of a shot." Pika blushed, waving a paw modestly and turning away.

"Pikachu."

"... Right." Yasopp turned to Usopp.

"So, I came to tell you-"

"CAPTAIN!" Tamanegi, Piman and Ninjin chose that particular moment to burst through the trees, stumbling into the small clearing. They seemed a bit put out by the charred tree behind Yasopp (not to mention the fact that several other trees seemed to have been run through) but quickly returned to business.

"Captain, there's-"

"A man in a rowboat here!"

"He says he's looking for Yasopp!" Yasopp and his son exchanged a glance before Yasopp turned to the boys.

"Was there another ship behind him?" Tamanegi nodded.

"A huge one! And the figure head was a dragon!" Lin gave a slight start at this. Wasn't that...?

"Shanks is here then." Yasopp muttered. He turned back to Usopp. "I was just going to say how Shanks was supposed to show up any time now." Usopp's eyes grew large.

"You're leaving already?" Yasopp nodded, grinning.

"Eh, don't worry about it. We'll see each other soon, right?" Usopp looked up silently for a few seconds then grinned.

"That's right! And then I can show you just how much of a pirate I've become!" Yasopp clapped Usopp on the back, face ablaze with pride.

"I don't doubt you for a minute, son."

"Hello there!" Lin jumped and peered over the edge of the cliff to see a certain red-haired man standing in a small ship- one most likely used for getting supplies. Lin blinked as Shanks grinned up at her. "I'm here for Yasopp!"

"How nostalgic." Lin decided that these pirates were going to be the death of her if they kept appearing right behind her without making any noises. She briefly considered yelling but was rendered silent as Yasopp looked down with a grin. "Ahoy, captain." Shanks gave a wave.

"You set?" Yasopp nodded... then dived off the edge of the cliff.

Lin then found that at some point she had stopped caring if people jumped off cliffs, and if they were going to kill themselves they probably would have picked a much less painful way to go. Not to mention Yasopp didn't seem suicidal. So she only stared with blank eyes as Yasopp reemerged from the water and hoisted himself into the ship alongside Shanks. Shanks waved at them, calling out as Yasopp began rowing the ship back.

"Tell Anchor we'll see each other on the Grand Line!"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"Shanks said that?" Lin and Usopp nodded simultaneously as Luffy's face broke into a large grin. "Then we'll definitely see him there!" The group was just packing their belongings when they heard word of Yasopp's return. They had stayed long enough at the island, and didn't wish to attract any attention from the marines. Kaya seemed somewhat sad at this but nodded in understanding. Soon they were all packed and ready to go, the group standing on the beach near the ship with the three boys and Kaya.

"I hope we'll see each other again, Usopp." Kaya murmured as she stood in front of Usopp. Usopp grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

"Of course we will! We just need to find some more adventure, but we'll definitely be seeing each other again!" When Kaya only smiled slightly, he dropped the grin and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. We'll come back soon, all right?" Kaya looked away.

"But why do you have to leave in the first place?" She asked. "You have a bounty, Usopp." Usopp nodded.

"But it'll be fine! Besides, when the Jolly Roger calls, a pirate must heed it!" Kaya smiled finally.

"Then I'll just have to wait." With that she leaned forward and gave Usopp a small kiss on the cheek.

Usopp turned the brightest red anyone had ever seen even as Piman snickered behind him.

"Captain's got a-" Usopp whipped his hand over Piman's mouth.

"Don't say it." Tamanegi grinned.

"I think he was about to say-"

"Don't say it!" Ninjin also grinned.

"Girlfriend!" Kaya smiled slightly.

"Good bye, Usopp." She turned and walked up the beach, hiding her own blush.

Lin snickered beside Nami. "I always was a UsoKa fan." Nami blinked and turned to Lin.

"Who?" Lin blinked back.

"Did I say that out loud? Never mind then."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"So long captain!"

"Be sure to-"

"-Have more adventures!" Usopp waved back as the ship slowly pulled away from the beach.

"Don't forget to accomplish your own dreams!" He shouted back, grinning as the boys simultaneously gave a thumbs up.

"We promise!"

Kaya stood on the small cliff watching the ship pull out on the ocean, silent. "I'm sure they'll be fine." Kaya turned to see Merri come up behind her, smiling kindly. She smiled back.

"I know they will. Usopp promised, after all." Merri nodded.

"Of course." Kaya watched the ship for a bit, then held up her hand in a wave.

"Good bye, Usopp." She said softly, watching as the ship finally disappeared over the horizon.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Lin didn't stop snickering under her breath until Zoro shoved her practice swords in her hands and ordered Brooke to begin. Then she was rewarded with a nasty welt for not paying attention.

"Ow!"

"Don't lose focus."

"My apologies, Lin-san. Perhaps-"

"NO." Brooke only shrugged and continued sparring.

After practice, Lin grumbled to herself as she walked around the deck, searching for Pika. When she asked Robin she only said "I think she was in the infirmary with Doctor-san." Lin blinked and headed that way, knocking on the door.

"Come in." A voice called. Lin walked in and stopped dead.

_Needles_.

"Oh, hey Lin!" Chopper greeted, holding one of the sharp instruments in his hooves. Pika was holding another, smaller needle and the two were putting them away. Chopper looked at Lin worriedly. "Are you okay? You look kind of green..." Suddenly he began to panic. "Are you sick?" Lin shook her head and slowly backed out the door, not looking directly at the objects scattered over the table.

"I think I need to leave." Lin finally turned and all but ran out the door, slamming it shut behind her. Chopper and Pika exchanged a glance before shrugging.

Lin leaned on the wall beside the infirmary, panting heavily. The green tinge had not quite left her face. "Ugh."

"Something wrong, Lin?" Lin yelped and craned her neck to see Nami standing beside her, looking concerned. Lin threw up her hands.

"You guys are going to give me a heart attack, you know that?" Nami smiled slightly.

"Sorry. What's up? You look pale." Lin flushed in embarrassment at the reminder.

"S'nothing." She muttered. Lin then looked up curiously. "So when are we getting to the Baratie?" She asked.

"The day after tomorrow," Nami said. Lin nodded; she'd expected as much.

"Then we'll have a party!"

"I hope they have a party..." Lin jumped and turned around to see Johnny and Yosaku standing behind her.

"Of course they'll have a party!" Yosaku exclaimed. "It's the return of their star chef! Not having a party would be akin to telling Sanji-sempai to get lost!" Lin blinked rapidly.

"Um... Nami? How long have they been here?" Nami rolled her eyes.

"Since the beginning. You really need to pay more attention."

"... Right." Johnny then turned to Lin.

"Lin-sempai, we heard that Zoro-aniki is teaching you swordsmanship," He began.

"And we ourselves would like to help," Yosaku finished. Lin blinked.

"... Help?"

"By offering our own sparring, of course. Us both against you." Johnny said. Lin almost went crosseyed.

"Um... Why?" She asked carefully. Nami nodded behind her.

"It's not a bad idea. Maybe you can last longer with them than with Brooke." Lin wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.

"Nami, these guys are _bounty hunters_. And have been for _years_. I've been training for Onigiri-sensei for _months_." Nami held up a finger.

"And you've been fighting for years before that, no?"

"Not with swords," Lin added desperately. Nami clucked her tongue.

"It's the same principal. You've incorporated the swords into your own fighting style, right? And then you've added a bit of Zoro's own techniques into it." Nami nodded to herself. "You'll be fine. You need the training for multiple enemies, right? Just so you don't get too reliant on Pika." Johnny and Yosaku blinked.

"Oh, by the way; what exactly _is_ that small ra-" Lin clapped a hand over Johnny's mouth, seeing Pika and Chopper return from the infirmary. She looked down at Pika.

"Hey Pika. What do you think about me sparring those two?" Lin added as she glanced back to the duo. Pika eyed Johnny and Yosaku before shrugging.

"Pi pika." Chopper stared at Pika.

"Really?" Lin blinked.

"What did she say?" Pika turned and looked at Lin, closing her eyes and giving a large smile. The meaning was obvious:_ Go get 'em_. Lin smiled. "Then I'm glad someone has confidence." She stated dryly. Johnny and Yosaku posed.

"We can spar tomorrow." They stated, smirking. Lin almost made a face. Almost.

_'I'm gonna die.'_

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Lin lay quietly in her hammock that night, Pika curled into her side. Words from Yamada suddenly echoed in her mind again.

"_Are you sure about the Mugiwaras?"_ He had asked. The answer had been obvious then, what with her so eager to get home and even, though it hadn't been as obvious then, eager to be with her favorite manga characters. It was rather funny, really. Luffy was so interested to find out who the person was on her 'Cool List' only under Batman.

It probably would be funny, but Lin had something against informing the crew that that spot was reserved for them and them alone. Unable to decide her favorite Straw Hat, she had placed them under a category instead and ranked them as her number two 'Cool People'.

But it hadn't really occurred to her that she would be staying with these people forever. Such a thing had never crossed her mind, not once. Lin had completely and utterly believed that she was going to get home, perhaps write this adventure off as some crazy dream or some memory to be treasured, then get on with her life. Her nice, normal...

… Rather boring life...

Lin shifted in her hammock and let her feet over the edge, carefully standing as not to jostle Pika. Nami shifter in her bed, looking at her through half-asleep eyes.

"Lin? What's-" She yawned. "What's up?"

"Just getting some water, Nami." Lin whispered. Nami barely nodded before rolling over again.

"Don't go in kitchen." She murmured. "Traps." Lin nodded and walked out on to the deck, looking around before blinking. In front of the galley was a pitcher of water and three glasses, most likely made for the occasion of one of the women waking up in the middle of the night. Sanji probably had too many traps in the kitchen to walk in on.

Lin poured her glass of water and sat herself on the bench around the main mast, staring up.

… Life was rather boring at home, wasn't it?

"Boring as hell," Lin muttered to herself. "But it was still home. I still had friends, I still had family. I still had dreams."

"I'm afraid we really can't help you with those." Lin didn't even have it in her to jump too badly at the sight of Robin standing beside her. "Unless you'd be willing to join the marines instead." Lin snorted.

"Right. I know the World Government. You really think I want to work for those assholes?" Robin smiled almost imperceptibly as she sat next to Lin, her own glass of water in hand.

"So you joined because you had no choice?" Robin asked. Lin's eyes widened.

"No! Of course not! I..." Lin trailed off and fiddled with the wood. "I really did want to join you. I just thought I couldn't."

"And why not?" Robin asked. "Captain-san seemed intrigued by you."

"Because I was the alien." Lin rolled her eyes. "The crazy Goth that fell from the sky and showed up with the 'mystery mouse' and the thing that shoots beams." Robin tilted her head.

"Goth?"

"... You're right. I'd be an insult to Goths, what with my stupidity and lack of... general Goth-ness. I just wear black, then." Robin smiled slightly.

"Why did you want to join?" Lin shifted uneasily and muttered something under her breath. Robin, assassin Demon of Ohara and (what Lin was sure of) incarnation of Batman himself, heard.

"Not 'why did you join' Lin-san. Why did you _want_ to join?" Lin gave an uncertain grin as she looked at Robin.

"You guys... You're practically the adventuring kings and queens!" Lin suddenly said. "You live every day to the fullest, never back down from challenges, always picking yourselves up and moving forward!" Lin was practically ranting by now. "You hunt treasure, explore the unknown, _everything_!" Lin slowly looked down. "I remember when I first got into the series years ago, at first I wanted nothing more than to live your kind of life." Robin tilted her head slightly.

"At first?" Lin nodded.

"Then I got to the Enies Lobby arc," She muttered. "It wasn't much really, but a thought kind of grew in me. I stopped thinking this place was some sort of ultimate fantasy when it started getting realistic." Robin nodded in understanding.

"There's a high risk to our life." Lin nodded again.

"With an eventual price that I'm not able to pay. Robin," Lin hesitated. "Zoro tried teaching me the swordsman code. He said I had to follow it if I wanted to use swords. But it's all bound to honor. Dignity even in life and death battles." Lin shook her head. "And what I learned was to screw dignity when your life was threatened, and then start gouging eyes and biting arms." Lin looked at Robin helplessly. "I don't _get_ honor. I don't _get_ dying for your nakama. I had a hard time with respect for my own mother! I can't imagine _respecting_ someone to the point where you would give everything for them. I don't get this place, _and I don't get you guys_." Lin sighed, setting her glass down. She slowly leaned back and waited for Robin's response.

Robin was silent for a few minutes, but soon answered. "I doubt you yourself have been in a position where you've had to choose between your loyalties and your life," She mused. Lin shook her head.

"Muggers, I could handle. But I was usually alone." Lin replied. "The one case I was with someone else..." Lin smiled sheepishly. _"They_ kicked his ass, not me." Lin suppressed a shiver at the memories. And Lin thought _she_ fought dirty...

"But I myself am very inexperienced with honor," Robin suddenly said. "Assassins have very little use for such." Lin inclined her head in understanding. "Yet to hear Swordsman-san speak of it... It seems to be something you can only learn from him, Brooke-san, or Captain-san. Or even Cook-san." Lin shook her head.

"I don't really have the patience to put up with Brooke's panty gag." Lin shuddered unconsciously. "And I'm not the best at dealing with Sanji. He's a great guy, but I've never had to deal with chivalry at that level. And Luffy's bursts of wisdom seem to only come out on special occasion... But Onigiri-sensei likes to mess with me." Lin scowled slightly. "He's really cool and all, but I don't think me asking him about honor will go down so well. For me at least. I've had a short temper for a while now." Robin nodded.

"Then I suppose you'll just have to watch and see what it is," She said simply. Lin nodded as she stood. "You should come to bed soon, Lin-san. You'll need all your strength on this ship." Lin scowled.

"All the strength of an infant compared to you guys." Robin smiled slightly.

"Then perhaps you should try to change that." With that she walked below deck.

Lin looked up thoughtfully at the crow's nest for a bit, then finally left to bed.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"Are you ready, Lin-sempai?" Lin was still far too occupied on the issue of how Johnny and Yosaku had managed to get their own bokken overnight. The six (herself, Pika, Johnny, Yosaku, Zoro and Brooke) were standing in the crow's nest, weights pushed aside to make a small arena. One that encouraged tripping as the ship dipped with each wave, moving along as it was. It didn't seem to bother anyone else though, and Lin would be damned if she didn't learn to adjust during training.

Lin stood in front of the bounty-hunting duo that were standing side by side, nervous. Zoro, Brooke and Pika were watching (Chopper had wanted to come, but apparently he had to finish with -Lin shivered- organizing the needles) as Lin shifted into her stance and held up her own bokken. She tried not to distract herself with trivial thoughts while she waited for the two to attack...

So how had the duo gotten their own bokken? Had they had them all along? Or maybe Usopp had just made them? Either way, the long bamboo swords were now...

Coming her way.

_MOVE._

The mental yell was more than enough for Lin, and she immediately jumped to the side. It was then that Lin could see that the two moved simultaneously.

Great.

"Onigiri-sensei, are you sure about this?" Lin asked nervously as she jumped back from the two. Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"Why else would I have this?"

Damn. Marimo Logic (TM). Lin yelped as Johnny then strode forward, striking down again. Lin parried the bokken to the side with her own, then ducked as Yosaku came up behind her with a swipe.

Lin skipped back to the other side of the mini arena as the two came forward again.

"I just think that- YACK!" Lin skipped behind Johnny, watching as Yosaku had to stop his strike from hitting his partner instead. She vaguely remembered not to attack from behind as she backed up again. "I just think that maybe, just _maybe_ I'm at a disadvantage?" Lin then made a dive in between the two attacking bounty hunters, rolling and turning in time to see their bokken instead clash against each other. She stood quickly as they turned and attempted a charge.

Zoro seemed almost amused. "How so?"

"Well, let's see!" Lin swerved behind Johnny as his partner nearly crashed into him. "_I suck at this_. They don't! What more are you asking?" Finally the two seemed fed up with her dodging as Yosaku came up behind her, attacks now from the front and back. Lin jumped to the side.

"I haven't seen you attack them at all." Lin turned for a second to see that Zoro was scowling. More so than usual. "You can't even hurt them if you don't come around to the front."

Lin cursed herself under her breath. Of course. You can't strike unless you're in the front line. Or something along those lines. Personally, Lin wasn't expecting to hit them...

But it never hurt to try.

Lin steeled herself for the returning hit as she stepped behind Yosaku, right in front of Johnny. With that, she gave a left handed swing to his side, holding up her right bokken for defense.

Imagine her surprise when the blow very nearly connected before Johnny threw his bokken in front of it. Lin didn't dare breath as she pulled back the left and attempted a horizontal swing to Johnny's side.

**Whack!**

First hit: Lin.

Apparently there were advantages to dual swords, such as she had an offense and a defense at the same time. Johnny and Yosaku had to pull their offense for their defense, and when attacking they were almost wide open. Their speed was definitely-

**Whack!**

Second hit: Yosaku.

Lin cursed the bump on her head as she jumped to the side just in time to avoid Johnny's counter strike. That damn spacing thing again. Why couldn't it leave her alone? Lin growled under her breath at the hit. It was too close to the back of her ear for comfort. A good hit like _that_ would knock her out.

Lin then had to parry the blow from Johnny, jumping behind him automatically. Yosaku, however, was waiting. Lin held up her shikai against his swing, the force jolting her arm.

Shitshitshitshit! Brute strength was something that could easily overpower a novice like her! Not to mention it hurt. A lot.

Lin whirled her entire body, arm up and stiff, to attack Yosaku. She hadn't quite counted on automatically stiffening her other arm.

Or that both arms would hit both bounty hunters. At the same time. The spin made her a bit dizzy, but the fact that it hit both of them made her jump back to analyze her move.

Wasn't Rapid Spin a pokémon move-?

Duck.

Swing.

**Whack!**

Lin didn't quite stop and admire her handiwork (though the look on Yosaku's face when she whacked his side _was_ priceless) but she was distracted just enough for Johnny to bring his bokken to Lin's neck, signaling the fight was over. Lin froze, breathing heavily and letting her arms go slack.

That was... fun? Despite her inner conclusion that the previous event was both painful and signaled that she needed drastic improvement, Lin felt herself grinning a little. Only a little.

This was mirrored by Johnny and Yosaku as they turned to Zoro.

"Not too bad," Johnny admitted.

"But a good student, if she's only been working for a few months." Yosaku finished.

Lin tried to not let it get to her. Really. But she couldn't help that her grin grew a little wider. It quickly turned into a scowl as she fingered the bump on her head. Ow.

"But she wouldn't stop moving!" Johnny complained. "Half the time I was expecting an attack from behind."

Lin was suddenly very, very sheepish as Zoro scowled towards her.

"Old habits die hard?" She said hesitantly. Zoro shook his head.

"You did move too much." He started.

"I just didn't want to be mauled!"

"... And you were therefore unable to attack properly. Not to mention you kept spacing out."

Crap. He saw.

"..." Lin rubbed the back of her neck. "Sooo... that's it then?" Zoro scowled heavily at the question but nodded nonetheless.

"Yes, you're done."

"Okay bye!"

Lin was down the ladder faster than a fireman down a pole.

"..." Yosaku stared at Lin's retreat. "... Aniki..." He hesitated, Johnny picking up for him.

"How serious is Lin-sempai about swordsmanship?" Zoro and Brooke, who had been strangely silent the entire ordeal, exchanged glances.

"... Lin-san only seems interested in learning how to fight alone," Brooke started. Johnny blinked.

"But she already knows how to fight, just..." He absentmindedly rubbed his shoulder. "... Painfully." Yosaku nodded.

"I thought she was going to kill us with her bare hands! And only because we were unarmed and surprised," He added. Johnny nodded.

"She took every advantage she could and used it against us. So why does she want to learn swords?" Zoro was quiet as he contemplated the question. One thing was certain though.

Either Lin had to wise up, or swordsmanship was out of the question.

Zoro never prayed in his life to any god, but nonetheless he hoped someone might cut him some slack if it should come to that.

It would be shameful for the World's Greatest Swordsman to die at the hands of a orange-haired thief.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Lin was very, very nervous as she fidgeted on the table Chopper used for treating patients. Last night Chopper had dropped a bomb on her. An atom bomb, to be precise.

"So Lin," Chopper had started. They were all sitting and chatting around the dinner table, having just eaten their fill. Lin had 'hmm'ed and turned to the small doctor.

"When Pika and I were organizing my needles," Chopper began, not noticing how Lin shivered at the word. "I remembered to ask you... Have you gotten any vaccines?" Lin nodded.

"Sure. Measles, mumps, goody goody stuff." She supplied. Chopper nodded in relief.

"Good. How about 'Barometer Illness'?"

"..." Lin stared at Chopper uncertainly. "Barometer Illness?"

"It's this disease you can only get... on..." Chopper's eyes suddenly widened. "On the Grand Line! But you don't _have_ a Grand Line!" Then Chopper fussed about a whole list of diseases that were only found in such a place, making Lin more and more concerned. But not for the reason Chopper seemed to suspect.

"Um, Chopper?" Lin suddenly interrupted. "I'm going to hate myself for asking, but... What are you going to do about it?" Chopper seemed faintly surprised at the question.

"You'll need vaccines, of course!" Lin paled.

"As in... needles?"

"Of course."

It was all Lin could do to not lose her dinner then and there.

So now, the next morning, Chopper had called Lin into the infirmary to get her first vaccines.

She tried not to cry as Chopper rummaged around in his drawer. Apparently he hadn't finished organizing his tools.

"So we'll have to take breaks between shots," He was saying. "Or your immunity system will fail." Lin nodded faintly.

"Th-That's great..." When Chopper turned to look at Lin oddly he gave a small gasp.

"Lin! Are you okay?"

Lin was very pale. Needles had always been a very sore spot for her (she would never forgive that incompetent intern. Never.) and now the thought of getting one made her have chills running down her spine and created a nauseous feeling in her stomach.

Unfortunately, when Chopper rushed to Lin he had, unknowingly, taken a needle with him. A large, six-inch needle made especially for pumping medicine into the heart itself. Not at all the one he was going to use on Lin, but the effect was the same.

Lin fainted dead on the spot at the sight of the needle.

Chopper _freaked_.

"Lin? LIN!" Chopper raced around the infirmary in tight, panicked circles. "Lin fainted! Lin... fainted...?" Chopper then glanced at the needle in his hand and back to the fainted Lin.

Let it not be said that the reindeer doctor was an idiot.

"Ohhh, so that's why..." Chopper muttered to himself as he put away the needle. "Poor Lin. Trypanophobia is a real pain sometimes." Chopper rummaged around for his bag of smelling salts to revive Lin, only to scowl when he came to the bag. "We're all out of smelling salts!"

"LAAA- Errr, I mean- SHIIIIIP! BARATIE!" Chopper glanced back at Lin then nodded to himself.

"They should have some there."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Smoker scowled heavily at the cry that the Mugiwaras had arrived. Just his luck, right as Tashigi had gone to the ship for her sword polisher. She'd been particularly cranky these past days not only because of the wait, but because she was falling behind on taking care of her blasted sword.

Damned irritable woman.

"Sanji's here! Everyone! He's back!" The customers that had heard the cry began screaming in horror. Black Leg Sanji was here, and it could only mean one thing.

The Pirate King was here.

"FOOOOOOOD!"

Luffy had every reason (in his mind) to run into the restaurant at the speed of light. Sanji had given him a very light breakfast (he'd only gotten _five_ whole portions that morning) and now he was _starving_.

So he dashed into the restaurant, knocking down dozens of customers that were attempting to escape with their life.

Smoker, however, had knowledge of such and had stayed as far away from the door as possible, standing and waiting with his usual scowl. Luffy stopped short once he was free of the crowd, pointing and staring in absolute shock.

"SMOKER?"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Tashigi heard the yell just as she reemerged from their ship, hidden safely behind the Baratie. She slung her sword on her back as she crept forward to the window, peeking in.

Mugiwara Luffy was in there, pointing to her boss and staring in shock. Smoker, on the other hand, seemed faintly amused (not that his scowl lessened any) but Tashigi was looking for someone else.

Damn. No Roronoa. Tashigi couldn't have known that Luffy's crew was right behind him and that he had dashed in beforehand, she had assumed that the crew either went with him or...

Stayed on the ship. Tashigi knew her boss was here for Mugiwara, but she herself was here for Roronoa.

So turning on her heel, she marched around the restaurant and paused at the Thousand Sunny, eying the gangplank.

"… Now or never, I suppose," Tashigi muttered under her breath.

And then she boarded the Mugiwaras ship.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Lin groaned as she stirred in the bed, sitting up and holding a hand to her head.

"Owww, why do I feel like I-" Suddenly Lin noticed her surroundings, and she visibly slumped over as she put the pieces together. "Damn. Fainted. That's embarrassing."

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she stood and looked around, raising an eyebrow. "Chopper?" No reply.

Lin picked up her swords and slid on the straps as she walked out the door. "Chopper?" She looked out the door, squinting in the sunlight. Just outside the door was the deck, and looking around Lin blinked rapidly.

"... Oh." The Baratie was there. The crew must have gone aboard while Lin was... Unconscious.

Lin then jumped as something slammed. She hesitated. Was it Chopper? Either way, she walked towards the source of the noise, only to start running at the sound of crackling electricity.

**BOOM!** Lin raced towards the Women's Cabin, heart racing. There were only two people on this ship that used electricity, and only one that could use it below deck-

Lin froze at the open door, eyes taking in the scene before her.

Tashigi? Lin almost asked out loud before reminding herself that Tashigi didn't know her. Said woman was standing in the middle of the room, sword strapped to her side. Lin raised an eyebrow as Tashigi gave a somewhat sheepish smile, holding up a hand in an odd greeting-

Hand. Red hand. Blood red. Lin then took in everything around Tashigi. Especially the little pokémon collapsed face down on the floor, red liquid stained around her.

Lin wouldn't be quite so cliché as to say her vision turned red, but somewhere in her mind Tashigi went from 'One Piece Character Acting Weird' to 'Person That Hurt Pika And Needs To Be Attacked.'

'NOW.'

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

In retrospect, perhaps sneaking onto a pirate ship with her marine attire still so blaringly obvious and her sword still on her wasn't the brightest idea.

Tashigi had come onto the ship expecting one of two things: Nothing, or an angry horde of pirates that would need quick explanations before they ran her through. What she got was...

… Something disappearing behind a door just as she walked up. Otherwise the deck was completely empty. Tashigi barely had time to make any noise before the door slammed shut behind it, running up to the door and opening it.

"Ah, excuse me. I..." Tashigi trailed off when she discovered the other side of the door to be empty. She scowled slightly. She was so sure she saw...

There! A small shadow was scampering down the hall just ahead. Tashigi immediately figure it to be the ship's doctor, Tony Tony Chopper, and followed after.

"Wait!" The figure, if anything, only went faster. Tashigi dashed down the hall after it. Of all the Mugiwaras she wanted to run into first, Tony Tony Chopper seemed the best choice, being the nicest (and cutest) of the crew.

The shadow passed through one final door, Tashigi sliding to a stop in front of it. Yanking it open and dashing inside, Tashigi stopped short at the scene in front of her.

The first thing Tashigi noticed was that she was in someone's cabin; judging by the vanity mirror the girl's cabin. The second thing she noticed was the tiny, yellow thing pulling something out of a brown backpack near a hammock.

… _Cute._

The thing looked up at Tashigi with large eyes and a little mousey face, holding up... a bottle of ketchup?

"Pikachu?" Tashigi smiled slightly.

"Hello there, little guy," She said kindly. The mouse frowned.

"Pika pika pika!" Tashigi tilted her head slightly. What was it saying? "Pika pikachu!" It demanded, pointing at Tashigi with its free paw. Tashigi pointed at herself in confusion.

"Me?" The thing nodded. "My name's Commander Tashigi." Tashigi bowed her head politely.

It then occurred to Tashigi that the odd creature was much smarter than a normal animal, seeing how it's eyes widened at the word 'Commander'.

"Pika_pi_?"

"Ummm..." Tashigi hesitated. "What's your name then?"

"Pika." It replied tersely, eyes narrowed. Tashigi blinked.

"I don't really understand that..."

"Pika!" It replied again, seemingly frustrated. It then pointed accusingly at her. "Pika pi pikachu! Pi pikapi?"

"..." Tashigi finally gave up on understanding the little mouse. "I don't understand at all, really. I'm sorry, Mouse-san, but I really must be-" The thing's eyes narrowed, its cheeks... sparking?

"PIKACHUUU-!"

**BOOM!**

The ketchup bottle, apparently in the way of any strikes the mouse had been planning, then exploded from the high voltage concentration. While it was still pressed up against the little mouse's chest.

The result was ketchup _everywhere_. Mainly in a small explosion arc from the suddenly unconscious mouse, laying face down. Tashigi lowered her hands, noting with disgust the ketchup that had covered them.

"... Mouse-san?"

**Slam!**

Tashigi almost jumped when the door to the cabin suddenly slammed open, revealing an odd, dumbstruck girl at the sight of her. She seemed to be wearing nothing but black (but upon closer inspection it was mainly black and dark blue) and had two odd things strapped to her back. The girl gaped at her. Tashigi winced. With the mess, it would be hard to talk like Smoker had wanted.

Uneasily, Tashigi held up a hand in greeting, wincing at how it was still covered in ketchup.

Then the girl's eyes turned to the unconscious mouse on the floor.

Too late, Tashigi realized just how it might look. The ketchup bottle was no where to be found, instead the red substance all over. With it also on Tashigi's hands, it looked kind of like... Someone had...

**Shing!**

Tashigi knew that sound. She ought to know it, seeing how Roronoa's signature move made a sound just before it cut right through its opponent without mercy. She'd had two years to learn that sound, and she'd be damned if she didn't know what to do.

Dart to side.

Sword up.

Block counter whirl when initial attack didn't work. After holding the girl's sword off, it suddenly occurred to Tashigi that she was fighting on autopilot. For fighting _Roronoa Zoro_.

How did-

Move.

Block.

Sword up. Tashigi stopped her sword just short of the girl's neck, noting how despite being on the crew of some of the strongest people in the world, she was rather weak in comparison.

The girl stopped short at with the sword at her neck, breathing heavily but still glaring at Tashigi.

"What... did you do..." She hissed between breaths. Tashigi shook her head.

"I didn't do anything!"

"Then why... is my partner... like that...?" Tashigi winced slightly.

"I don't know! But it's all ketchup!" This made the girl pause.

"... Ketchup?" Tashigi nodded, pleased that she was at least listening.

"I followed it looking for... Well, I thought it was the little doctor. It came in here and pulled some ketchup from a backpack, then started speaking another language. When I called it Mouse-san..."

"I see." Tashigi was relieved to see the girl calm down, and slowly removed her sword. "She gets pissed when you call her that." Slowly the girl sheathed her swords over her back, keeping a wary eye on Tashigi. "I'm guessing the ketchup bottle exploded in her face then." Tashigi nodded and the girl slumped over in relief.

"Thank goodness. I thought you'd killed her." She giggled somewhat hysterically. "Not that I had a chance of ever beating you, but _sheesh_. Scare me to death, why don't you?" Tashigi sheathed her own katana, stepping back and bowing politely.

"I apologize. It was a simple misunderstanding." The girl nodded.

"It's alright. Sorry for attacking. Thank you for not killing me, by the way." She nodded. "My name's Lin." Lin turned away and walked over to the little creature picking it up and checking it over, grinning when it started to stir. "And this is Pika. She's a pikachu, for future reference." Tashigi blinked, then nodded back.

"Commander Tashigi." Lin flinched at the title.

"Marine then? What are you doing here?" Tashigi felt as though she'd hit the jackpot. Here was a girl that didn't attempt to kill her on sight for being a marine, that was attempting civility right back.

It was easy for Tashigi to forget she was a pirate.

"Smoker-san and I wished to speak to Mugiwara Luffy about... Um," Tashigi wasn't sure how to quite put her words. "You see, Fleet Admiral Sengoku's been... busy, lately..." Lin's eyes widened.

"_Oh_," She breathed. "You mean he _was_ part of the dragon thing!" Tashigi stared hard at her.

"The one at the Shimotsuki Dojo?" Lin shook her head.

"I'm not sure if I should spread this so lightly, but... I think you want to know." Lin looked down at the ketchup all over the floor and sighed. "I need to clean up first. I'm going to go get some rags from the kitchen. Watch Pika for me?" With that she turned and walked out the door, placing Pika near Tashigi.

Tashigi and Pika eyed each other before Pika sniffled, looking at the ketchup on the floor.

"Chu..." Tashigi winced.

"Was that your ketchup?" The little creature nodded sadly. "I'm sorry... Perhaps there's more in the kitchen..."

"Sanji's put the kitchen ketchup off limits." Tashigi turned to the door, where Lin arrived with a stack of rags in hand. "That ketchup is Pika's personal stash. Was." She mused, beginning to clean up. "I suppose I can tell you what happened as I clean, but keep in mind: It's pretty weird.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Tashigi stared at Lin as though uncomprehending her words. A small stack of red rags stood piled by the door, the floor now clean of any ketchup. Pika stood off to the side, sucking on the ketchup-soaked rags.

"... Are you sure they were marines?" Lin nodded.

"Can't think of any other groups of people that walk around with the caps with the blue seagulls. According to Ryuuma's description, they were in and out of the place with tranqs and cages for weeks. By the time we got to Dragon's Peak, there wasn't a dragon to be found." Tashigi shook her head slowly.

"How do I know you aren't lying?" Lin eyed her slowly.

"... Why are you guys here in the first place?" She suddenly asked. "From what I know of protocol and such, you'd have to have permission to go to any different sector with a marine ship. What made you come here?" Tashigi seemed indignant at her next words.

"They asked us to _ambush_ you." Tashigi huffed. "Of all the dishonorable, unfathomable..." Lin nodded.

"And why did you decide you want to talk instead?" Tashigi blinked.

"Well... Smoker-san thought that the World Government was doing something big... And we were kept out of the loop." Lin nodded again.

"Exactly. I'm guessing your job is to not ask questions, right?" Tashigi nodded, eyes blazing somewhat. "And you questioned them! That's exactly what you're supposed to do!" Tashigi blinked.

"From where?" Lin pointed to herself.

"You hear about where I'm from?" Tashigi nodded.

"Another dimension, correct?" Lin nodded.

"Yeah. I come from a country that takes all World Government beliefs and stuffs them down their throat. We don't _have_ a World Government, Tashigi." Tashigi tried to imagine a world with the five elders and failed.

"Then... what...?"

"We have different countries that have the usual: Alliances and wars and all that. My country has a system where the _people_ choose their rulers, and the rulers are ruled themselves by the people. But it started out as a colony ruled by a king. You know how it all got started?" Tashigi flailed a bit and thought about it.

"Someone... questioned the king?"

"Exactly. Someone thought to themselves _Why should we?_ Then they got a lot more people that said _We shouldn't have to_ and they decided to change their entire country." Lin nodded to herself. "We've had that country for hundreds of years now, where a rule of thumb is... Shit." Lin suddenly said. "I have the book! Hold up." Lin dashed over to her backpack, rummaging around and pulling out a history book. Flipping to a page, she read aloud

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and provide new Guards for their future security." Lin read. When Tashigi didn't answer, Lin handed the book to her. "Read it. It's true."

Tashigi slowly read the passage and beyond. "... Duty?"

"To throw off a corrupt government." Lin eyed Tashigi. "I'm not asking you to go George Washington on Sengoku, but the world needs to be questioned. Especially when the world starts messing with the time stream. You know that stuff is never without consequences." Tashigi nodded slowly, eyes never leaving her reading.

"... In order to form a more perfect union, establish justice..." Tashigi whispered out loud. Lin nodded.

"Not government justice in that case, obviously." Tashigi nodded slowly.

"... I see." When Tashigi never stopped reading Lin sighed.

"You can take the book you know." Tashigi looked up, startled. "Everyone else that wanted to read it already has. And I never was into history all that much. But I think you could use it." Tashigi nodded, bowing her head.

"Thank you." After a long silence Lin coughed.

"So..." Tashigi rubbed her arm absentmindedly.

"Where did you learn that form?" She suddenly asked. Lin blinked.

"Eh?"

"That form. The one you used earlier. It looked remarkably like Roronoa's signature move." A look of bleak horror crossed Lin's face.

"It... looked... like... that...?" Tashigi didn't seem to notice her distress and nodded.

"Of course, the best it can be with only two swords. But the stance was nearly identical, along with the counter strike. I... Hm?" Tashigi noticed that Lin's shoulders were shaking. "... Lin-san?"

"S-Sorry, but..." Lin's face seemed a cross between amused an horrified, shoulders shaking with hysterics. "I really... looked like that?" Tashigi hesitated, then shook her head.

"... No?" At once the tension seemed to flow out of Lin and she slumped in relief.

"That's good. I would hate to copy Onigiri-sensei. Even if he did teach me that form, copy-cat isn't exactly my style." Three words seemed to stick into Tashigi's mind: Sensei, Teach, Form.

Pure, undiluted horror settled into her brain. The World's Greatest Swordsman had an apprentice. _Roronoa Zoro_ had an _apprentice._

For all intents and purposes, it seemed like the world was ending for Tashigi.

"Ummm..." Lin vaguely wondered at the horrified expression on Tashigi's face. "Was it something I said?"

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Jeez, I was waiting to get here for a while. This is kind of like the turning point for this whole saga, you know? Not the whole series, just the whole saga.

No, Lin is _not_ Zoro's apprentice or even his student. Lin's nickname for Zoro just had a bad effect on Tashigi. :P

… Johnny and Yosaku are fun to write. I hope you know this.

… I can't think of what I was supposed to write here. Shoot. Oh! Trypanophobia is the fear of needles; mainly medical injections.

… If an intern decides to draw blood, then be worried. TT I know about smelling salts and that horrible burn in your nose because of it! IT BURNS. If you are an intern at a lab, then FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T MISS THE VEIN. It's painful and hurts and makes you pass out.

Barometer Illness? Dunno. I think Vivi mentioned something about the constant weather changes of the Grand Line having a bad effect on sick people (my mom gets sick whenever the weather changes abruptly) but I just needed an example. Brooke and his crew got sick too from something. I just needed an excuse for vaccination, and Barometer Illness was the first thing that came to mind. :D

Soooooo... Thank you allycat18, Psychotic Tendency, TheDML, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, magic126, Jasmin Liertha, and Rainbowishlush for your reviews!

Did you know that I have parts two and three of this series planned out? Oo;; I can't exactly get to part four, because... It may have to be in the New World. And what do we know about the New World?

Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. I can plan the basic overtones, but otherwise until I know the _names and people_ of the islands it's somewhat subject to change.

Feh. Oh well, can you guys review again? Pleeease~? :D

… Yes, we'll get to Smoker and co. next time. And maybe clear up Tashigi's fears. Maybe. Or we can let her stew in her horror. :D


	21. Black and White

DAMN YOU SENGOKU! BECAUSE OF YOUR RETARDED DECISIONS YOU'VE COMPLETELY ISOLATED MY STORY TO BE AU! *huff* Therefore, I hereby blame Sengoku for my horrid case of writer's block, my complete lack of canon-ness in this story, and my utter lack of milk in my refrigerator. TT I do love milk...

School! I needed to get _something_ up before school started, and this chapter was already halfway written. But if you thought my month-long absence was one thing, we'll have to see when school starts up today. Concurrent enrollment is a really big factor, it being my senior year in high school and all.

Anyway, I've been indulging in the Naruto fanfic area mostly, reading nothing but Time Travels and KakashixOCs. xD Mostly the latter... There's something about them that makes them my guilty little pleasure. Like ZoroxOC. They just make me happy. :D So I think I'll tell you about my favorite Time Travel and my favorite KakashixOC!

For the time travel department I shall introduce to you 'Wake Me Up Inside' by RayneXHatake! The story of how Naru (female Naruto) and her partner/ex-sensei Kakashi, the last Konoha survivors in a war against Sound, are thrust into Kakashi's childhood by the Kyuubi. Now at six-years-old, the two begin a new life with Sakumo and Minato, striving to change the future. Eventual Kakashi/femNaruto. Absolutely adorable, insanely epic, and overall a great read!

Then we have 'A Girl Named Yama' by ! The tale of a girl from the real world that wakes up (half clothed) in Kakashi's bedroom one insane morning. From destroying smut to fending off psychotic Uchihas, Yama's life has gone to the dogs as she struggles to fit in a world that seems to want her six feet under. With the pairing of KakashixOC, of course~! ;D God I need to get over that.

Anyway, here's a rather unentertaining chapter for you guys! It's plot development, but that doesn't make it any less... droll.

I do not own One Piece or Pokémon. Seriously.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"**There's something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.****"**

**~Stefan Kanfer**

Lin couldn't stop laughing even as Tashigi grew more and more annoyed.

"It's not funny!" Tashigi said forcibly, cheeks stained red. Lin's laughter settled into quiet snickers.

"S-Sorry Tashigi but..." Lin shook her head. "The idea of Zoro _willingly_ teaching me anything amuses me. Nami had to blackmail him to teach me how to even hold my swords correctly, let alone some basic forms." Tashigi scowled.

"Well, what was I supposed to think?" She huffed. "Not many people have a reason to refer to Roronoa as 'sensei'." Lin smiled sheepishly.

"That's a joke I made a while ago that stuck. Besides, if he ever _did_ take on a serious apprentice, they'd probably want to learn his three sword style. I think Zoro developed that style all on his own." Tashigi nodded.

"When his friend died, correct?" At Lin's incredulous look she elaborated "We met Roronoa's old sensei. He was quite... surprised to see me." Lin nodded.

"I imagine so," She stated dryly. "I thought the little picture from the dojo had come to life when I first saw you." Tashigi shook her head.

"I'd thought Roronoa simply had a fuzzy memory, but looking at that..."

"Yeah, it's pretty scary, that." Lin nodded. "But anyway, no, Zoro's only teaching me basic swordsman ship. Although," Lin admitted quietly. "I'm not exactly the best learner..." Tashigi tilted her head at Lin's suddenly thoughtful look.

"How so?" Lin hesitated.

"Well, see... I used a different fighting style for years before meeting the Straw Hats until Nami told me I should start using a weapon. But when I got swords as a weapon..." Lin shook her head. "Onigiri-sensei told me that I had to follow the swordsman's code, which goes against everything I was ever taught in my old style." Tashigi raised an eyebrow.

"Against it?"

"I was taught to knock out an opponent from behind and gouge out their eyes when they were down." Tashigi was utterly horrified.

"What kind of place teaches that kind of fighting?" She demanded. Lin rubbed the back of her neck.

"A place that claims swords are obsolete. No one really uses swords anymore, and those who follow rules of swordsmanship are usually the first to die." Tashigi looked pale.

"... Obsolete?" Lin held up her hands.

"I'm not saying anything against swordsmanship, but where I come from, swords are only used for sport or decoration. Real cheap ones, too. You don't find any real high quality ones like that," Lin nodded at Shigure. "Or even any sharp ones. Except for those in museums."

Tashigi looked as though she were about to cry, so Lin hastily added

"Not that it's right! Really! All I'm saying is that people from my world don't know how to go about the swordsman's code! And it frustrates Zoro to no end!" Tashigi calmed herself after a bit and nodded slowly.

"That does... seem like a problem," She allowed. "It's hard to go against one's teaching, but..." She paused, making eye contact with Lin. "Do you _really_ want to learn swordsmanship?" Lin hesitated.

"... I don't know," She finally said, looking away. "I'm not going to lie, I don't understand the concept of honor very well. But..." Lin fiddled with her fingers. "It's seems like something worthwhile to learn, especially if I'm not home anymore, you know? With everything that's happening, I think that people count on each other to have that kind of honor. And I don't like to disappoint people, especially those that have been so nice to me..." Lin trailed off. Tashigi smiled slightly.

"Well, it's a start. If you can learn honor, then you can learn it in battle. You won't learn true swordsmanship until you learn honor, and those swords will be shamed if you go into battle without honor," Tashigi pointed to the swords strapped to Lin's back. Lin glanced back oddly, but nodded wearily. One Piece beliefs too, right.

"They're nice though, aren't they? Usopp made them for me." Lin said in an attempt at conversation. Tashigi only held out a hand, which Lin quickly deposited one of the boomerang swords into.

Tashigi gave it a careful inspection. "What are they called?" Lin shrugged.

"Usopp never came up with a name. But see the magnets?" Lin tapped the black tip on the edge. "Pika can put electricity into them. She's actually my fighting partner, too." Pika puffed herself up in pride.

"Pika pikachu." Lin scratched her head as Tashigi looked at her, confused.

"What did she say?"

"Hell if I know. Best I got is charades."

"Charades?"

"... Never mind."

"Pikapi!" Lin and Tashigi looked over to Pika, who was waving her paws irritably. Obviously she didn't appreciate being ignored. Lin winced.

"Sorry, Pika. What is it?"

"Pika pikapi! Pikachu!" Lin scratched her head thoughtfully.

"How many words?" Pika held up four 'fingers'. "First word?" Pika gestured to first Tashigi, then Lin, then herself. Lin hmmed. "We?"

"Pi!" Pika gave a thumbs up. She then pointed to her mouth.

"... Eat?" Pika shook her head. "Food?" Another shake, then Pika pointed to the rags. "... Ketchup?"

"Pika!" Pika said in frustration, then held up three fingers.

"Okay," Lin said. Apparently Pika decided to skip to the next word. "Third word?" Pika held up a peace sign. "Two?" Pika nodded, then held up four fingers. "Fourth word?"

Pika pointed out the door. "Pikapi!" Lin made an 'o' with her mouth, turning to Tashigi.

"I think she's saying we need to go."

"Pika pikapi!" Lin smiled as Pika nodded rapidly.

"That's a definite then. Let's go."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Smoker was more of a man of action than words. Word games were often troublesome, and ended rather badly for him on account of his own inexperience with them. Simple words could be taken out of context, completely twisted that his own words would turn on him, hissing like snakes. Long, complicated words often had five different meanings that, when misunderstood, were often a part of the little game that the World Government loved to play.

So it would suffice to say that when Luffy dropped into a crouch after recovering from his initial shock, Smoker was at a loss of what to say that wouldn't sound like he was trying to kill him or completely turn on the marines. His crew piling in after them and making their own noises of shock did not help matters in the least.

"You!"

"Smoker?"

"What the-!"

"EEEEYAAAAH!"

"GAH!" The last noise, in fact, came from a certain green haired swordsman, who was actually looking anywhere but at Smoker, obviously looking for someone else.

"What are you _doing_ here?" Smoker suddenly found himself staring down a very cold, very blue glow of a certain weather staff.

Damn it all, where the hell was Tashigi? Smoker uneasily held up his hands, still searching for the right words.

"I'm..." Smoker growled under his breath, suddenly finding himself angry at these pirates. He was only here to talk, and he wasn't going to be cowed like some pansy ass chore boy!

Smoker shoved aside the staff, scowling. "I'm here to talk." The orange-haired thief stared incredulously at him.

"To _talk_? When you've chased us around the entire world with guns blazing, trying to kill Luffy this entire time? You suddenly show up at a restaurant we happened to be going to and all you want to do is _talk_?"

"Yes." Nami eyed him before slowly backing away, looking at Luffy.

"Well?" Luffy stared at Smoker a bit then nodded.

"Let's hear it then." Zoro said shortly, still looking around. Smoker rubbed his temples. He could feel a headache coming on.

"What happened at Shimotsuki?" He suddenly demanded. The crew seemed taken aback at the change in topic. Robin stepped forward.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Tashigi and I were called to investigate Shell Town's report of a dragon flying towards Shimotsuki." Smoker said. "They said it was a Vice-Admiral class mission." Robin seemed to understand, turning to Luffy.

"But Captain-san's grandfather was there, a Vice-Admiral." Smoker nodded.

"When we arrived at Shimotsuki after dodging some maniac in a speeding cart (Usopp had the decency to look somewhat sheepish while Franky just looked proud) we heard about how the dragon was summoned in a way that hadn't been used in hundreds of years." He stated shortly, observing the crew's reactions. They didn't seem surprised. "That was when we got a call from the Fleet Admiral, ordering us to come here..." Smoker scowled heavily. "And ambush you with a small fleet. But only after your chef's established contact with Red Leg Zeff, and to use him as a hostage." The crew seemed taken aback, along with the chefs that had been listening in. Sanji stepped forward, furious.

"The hell? What kind of bastard are you?" Smoker held up a hand.

"What makes you think I planned to follow through?" Sanji was silenced. Franky glared at him, fist held up threateningly.

"And what makes us think you haven't? You're here, aren't you? And I don't see your partner anywhere." Smoker pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Tashigi left to our ship a while ago. But she hasn't returned yet. Damned woman..." He muttered under his breath. He looked up and eyed them all. "Sengoku has never ordered marines to take hostages of pirates in your case. It doesn't make sense for him to start now. Unless," Smoker crossed his arms. "You've seen something you shouldn't have, something worse than everything you've already done." The crew began to exchange glances, Nami finally sighing and lowering her staff.

"In that case, it's going to be a long explanation. Sanji-kun."

"Hai, Nami-san!" Sanji was eager as ever to please.

"Go check on Zeff. Make sure Smoker's partner didn't do anything, just in case." Nami added at the look from Smoker. "Chopper." Chopper blinked.

"Yes?"

"Where's Lin and Pika?" Chopper hesitated.

"Lin is um... in the infirmary because... Well, and Pika went back to the ship to grab her ketchup." Nami raised an eyebrow about Lin but nodded.

"Go grab them. I think Lin knows a bit more than she's telling us, but for now she'll have to do. She may have something to add to our story." Chopper nodded, albeit somewhat confused, and started to walk out the door only to come back a second later.

"I found them." Nami blinked rapidly as Lin came in, Tashigi right behind her and Pika on her head.

They made eye contact for a few awkward moments before Nami sighed, rubbing her temples. "You have to stop meeting people. Or at least stop bringing them to _us_."

Lin, at the very least, had the decency to look somewhat sheepish.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sanji walked carefully into the kitchen, wary of any trap the marines had laid. He had every reason to worry, as the old geezer could be taken hostage this second and-

"PAYBACK TIME!"

**THUD.**

… Nah, he was fine.

"Patty. Carne." Sanji regarded the two twitching chefs below him, not appearing to have moved an inch. "Nice to see you dumbasses too." Patti moaned.

"Crazy... Sanji... stronger than ever..." Sanji merely brushed invisible dust off his jacket.

"Where's the geezer?" Carne twitched.

"I... I think he's in the back..." Sanji nodded, walking and stepping over the two.

"Thank you." Patty and Carne stared at each other from the ground.

"He's gotten stronger," Carne moaned. Patty only grit his teeth.

"I was so sure he would fall, but..." Patty grinned, Carne mimicking him. "It's good to see he's in good health." Carne grinned back for a second before raising an eyebrow.

"Oh? You missed him?"

"D-Don't misunderstand, stupid! Of course not! I bet you did, though!"

"Dumbass! Who would!" Sanji only smirked from behind the wall. He'd missed them too.

"Ha! I saw you crying when he left!"

"That was you, bastard! Crybaby!"

"SHUT UP!"

Not that he'd ever admit it.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Smoker felt a migraine coming on, rubbing his temples as his subordinate stared at him sympathetically. This wasn't nearly as bad as he'd thought. He'd come to the Mugiwaras perhaps expecting the World Government to have begun genetic experiments, perhaps some cloning on the side or even a hint of start towards tyranny.

This? Was much worse.

"'Other dimensions and time traveling..." Smoker groaned. He was really going to need some medication for how crazy his life had gotten. But that was another matter. For now, he turned to the one factor in the whole mess that made the least sense—besides the whole mess in general.

Lin stared back, fidgeting slightly as Smoker scowled.

"There's one thing I don't get," He rumbled. "How did you know what had happened before anyone else, even going so far as to bring back the exact help that was needed in your circumstance? Why did you already have knowledge of that timeline before going there?" Lin began to sweat as she felt the eyes of the Straw Hats on her, all equally confused.

"Um..." Lin fidgeted, seeing where the question could possible lead. How to tell them, without telling them? She sure wasn't as hell going to tell them that they were all in a manga, and she knew that was where Smoker was eventually going to lead. Damn him and his smarts.

If Robin was Batman, Smoker was the flipping Question. Paranoia and conspiracy theories and all.

"I, uh, told you." Lin stated hesitantly. "I read the story a long time ago." Smoker nodded sharply in remembrance.

"But why would you hear a story from _our_ timeline, when you were apparently from another dimension?"

Oh hell. That was a very familiar question. And the last person to ask that had found out the little secret. Tashigi observed Lin's composure curiously, then blinked as Lin suddenly brightened.

"Well, I don't know." Smoker blinked. Tashigi blinked. The Straw Hats blinked. Lin smiled slightly. "It was just a story that I'd heard, really. I happen to like stories, and the story of Ryuuma came with a set of five-I mean, four stories. I wasn't expecting to have to use that knowledge to find the main character of Monsters. It wasn't until Ayumu came that things started making sense." Lin nodded to herself, then suddenly paused, making a face. "Oh." Smoker looked at her oddly.

"What?"

"What if..." Lin suddenly paled. "What if _we_ start getting sucked into other worlds?" Nami looked at Lin.

"So? We'll just... Oh." Nami looked sick. "I see." Luffy looked completely lost as he looked between the two girls.

"What? What is it? Can't we just kick someone's ass and get back home like last time?" Nami looked as though she might hit the poor rubber man, so instead Robin opted to explain.

"Captain-san, not every world may have someone like Ayumu-san. If she was correct, then this meddling will eventually lead to portals to other worlds. If we should become trapped in another dimension, then finding someone like Ayumu may become next to impossible." Lin nodded tightly, still somewhat pale.

"And I'm guessing we only found Ayumu through absolute luck. Or even only because we found the main character of the story." Lin shook her head. "_You_ may have ridiculously good luck, but me? With my luck, I'll get sucked into a world that I know absolutely nothing about. I wouldn't be able to find the main character, and then I'd get locked up in the loony bin for spouting crap about an organization we don't even know the name of." Lin continued her logic silently. _And they would take you guys back only._

Luffy was a main character of his own world. So was everyone else. The only reason Ayumu had found them was because she recognized Luffy, and understood that he didn't belong there.

If Lin got caught, she didn't think that they'd allow her to go back with them again. And she sure as hell wasn't going to be sent back home either, if she was caught with Pika.

"Lin!" Lin flinched as Nami snapped her fingers in her face, looking thoroughly annoyed. "You spaced again!" Lin flushed.

"Sorry." Nami regarded her oddly.

"What were you thinking about?" Lin shook her head.

"Um... I was..." Lin looked up at Pika. "... Ketchup?" Nami blinked. "Yeah! Ketchup. Pika's ketchup kind of exploded, and-"

"Alright, alright. We can get more later." Nami waved her off. Lin smiled up at Pika, not noticing the odd glance Smoker sent her way. Nami turned back to him sternly. "So what are you going to do now? According to Ayumu, if whatever is causing this keeps it up we'll find a hell of a lot more portals from other dimensions. I can only imagine what anyone could do with the monsters from our own timeline, let alone from something we've never heard of." Lin shivered at the thought.

"And skills, too. And weapons. Or even tactics. Did you know there's a story about a whole legion of ghosts that eat people's souls? The only one that can fight them are Shinigami."

Usopp, Chopper and Brooke looked as though they might cry.

"Not to mention that if they got into the Naruto world. _Hell_." Lin paled at the thought of fighting any recruited ninjas. "Jutsus and chakra and _we would all get blown to kingdom come_. Thank God I didn't end up there." She shivered again. "This whole deal is like the beginning of the freaking apocalypse. Except that once you start it, it snowballs into something we can't handle."

Lin nearly jumped a foot in the air when a hand clapped on her shoulder.

"Nah, Lin." Lin blinked as she found herself staring into the very serious eyes of Luffy. He then grinned. "We'll be fine. As long as we're all together, we can beat anything, right?" Lin almost froze at the question. What kind of stupid question was that? Of course she knew. She'd been a fan of One Piece, the extraordinary exploits of the infamous pirate Monkey D. Luffy, for years. He could pull off the impossible, both him and his nakama. All her worries were for naught.

She was being incredibly stupid.

Lin smiled back and nodded. "Right... captain." Luffy's grin widened and he turned to Smoker.

"So what are you going to do about this?" He asked casually, but Lin thought she saw something flash in his eyes as he made eye contact with Smoker. Smoker regarded the younger man for a long moment, Tashigi looking apprehensive. He closed his eyes.

"... This is not something to treat lightly," He muttered, almost to himself. "Based on your stories, it seems as though while not having a direct hand in this, the World Government instead funds it."

"Like the Shichibukai?" Usopp asked, eyes wide. Tashigi nodded.

"Smoker-san is saying that Sengoku may have hired someone who came forward with an offer he couldn't resist, probably the removal of the Era of Dreams." She said, voice ominous. "The era itself was started by the actions of the Pirate King, and therefore stands for everything that opposes the World Government. To have it established and acknowledged has split the world in two..."

"Those who follow the World Government, and those who follow dreams." Smoker finished, arms crossed. "It first started at the beginning of your exploits in East Blue, Mugiwara, and only increased exponentially at Marineford with the Ox Bell. From there it split into the two sides."

Lin felt rather lost, but did her best to understand. She'd ask Robin later.

"When you became the Pirate King, those who followed dreams inexplicably turned to your side. Those who did not were almost always followers of the World Government, even on the other side of the law." Tashigi continued. Nami nodded in understanding.

"So to Sengoku, you're either on his side, or ours." Smoker nodded.

"Exactly." Lin let out a long breath.

"That's... that's big." She finally said. "Now the whole world's playing cops and robbers. And the cops are paying the robbers to catch even more robbers. Drug world gone Edo!" Lin threw up her hands, ignoring the confused glances she got. "This is just like Bleach, except none of us have holes in our chests and Sengoku sure as hell ain't a ghost in a dress!"

They decided to leave her alone after that, Nami turning back to Smoker with her eyebrow raised.

"That's all true, but it doesn't answer the question of what _you're_ going to do about it." She said. "As you've said, you're either on our side, or theirs. The Pirate King, or the ones that are screwing with the dimensions of the universe itself."

Then Nami suddenly smirked and she stuck out her tongue, winking at Smoker. "If I were you, I'd go with the lesser of two evils. Dance with the devil and all." She said cheekily.

Lin giggled. Franky snorted. Smoker 'hn'ed.

… Lin idly thought that 'hn' wasn't the healthiest noise in the world to make, especially considering it seemed to be the catch phrase of a certain homicidal maniac.

"NAMI-SWAN IS SO BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE WRAPS MARINE BASTARDS AROUND HER FINGER~!" Nami twitched her gaze to the twirling blonde cook, just arriving with a grouchy, one-legged man behind him rolling his eyes.

"Idiot." Sanji whirled.

"What was that, shitty geezer?" He growled. Lin turned her attention back to Smoker as the two fought in the background, Zoro watching them in bemusement (or it may have had something to do with the fact that he was studiously ignoring Tashigi this entire time). Smoker cleared his throat.

"Well, based on what you've told us, we obviously have no choice in the matter." Smoker nodded to Tashigi, who stood there in absolute confusion.

"... Smoker-san?" She asked carefully. Smoker nodded towards the back door, apparently where his ship was anchored.

"I have a ship full of marines waiting on their orders to attack the Thousand Sunny," Smoker stated gruffly, eying Luffy. "Because Sengoku made sure to make his orders known to the entire ship. Failure to comply to his orders will eventually be rotated back to him, and Tashigi and I will likely be imprisoned for obstruction of justice and treason."

"B-But we can't attack them!" Tashigi stuttered out, indignant. "You heard them, Smoker-san! We're on the bad side of something that's going out of control!" Smoker only nodded, never breaking eye contact with Luffy. Luffy grinned and nodded back.

"Then you'll have to catch us first!" He declared, whirling to the crew. "Sanji, Usopp, get to the marine ship! Everyone else, get back to the Sunny!" Sanji smirked around his cigarette.

"Aye captain." Usopp, to his credit, didn't complain. He instead followed Sanji out to the rear of the restaurant, unslinging Kabuto from his back. The rest of the crew began to walk out the door before Luffy paused, nodding at Zoro.

Zoro came back and stood in front of Smoker and Tashigi somewhat stiffly. Tashigi blinked.

"Roronoa-?"

**Whack!**

Zoro placed his sheathed sword back and walked back to the ship, leaving behind two unconscious marines with a good sized welt on each of their heads.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"I still don't get it." Lin scratched her head under her hat as she stood by the railing of the ship, watching various marines fly off the ship they were drifting next to. The shouts of Sanji and Usopp as they cleared the ship only slightly bothered her, as she was unable to see past the smoke (a good ambush was made under cover, after all). Robin smiled from her spot on the sun chair, book resting in her hands.

"Smoker-san essentially agreed to an arrangement with Captain-san." Lin nodded absently.

"My question is _what_ the arrangement was. Obviously this isn't something that Smoker was just going to write off, but I don't get it." Lin huffed. Robin smiled mysteriously as she looked at Lin.

"Lin-san, I thought you of all people would be able to figure it out." Lin blinked, then shook her head as she understood the implication.

"I don't know you guys as well as one might think," She finally said. "You guys are actually pretty different from the first half of the Grand Line, enough that I'm incapable of predicting what you guys will do and why." Robin seemed to mull this over, then nodded slightly as she returned to her book.

"I suppose you're right." She said. "Things have changed, after all." Robin trailed off in thought as Luffy's voice came to them from the deck.

"Hey Nami! Is Sanji back yet? It's almost lunch time!" There was a pause. "Nami? Naaami? Nami!"

**Slam!**

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT BUGGING ME WHEN I'M PLOTTING OUR COURSE, DUMBASS!"

"Nehhhh..." Lin shook her head at Luffy's faint whine.

"Not all of it though."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sanji ducked under the rifle that attempted to follow his movements and gave the marine a sharp kick in reply, sending him into a few of his friends behind him. Usopp dashed out from the nearby smoke cloud, nodding at Sanji.

Sanji smirked darkly and dashed towards the edge with Usopp at his heels just as a loud explosion sounded off behind him. The two splashed in the ocean, diving under and resurfacing on the other side of the ship.

"That better have not been the kitchen." Despite the cold water, Usopp felt himself sweating under the gaze of Sanji.

"I-I didn't go anywhere near the kitchen! I swear!" Sanji nodded firmly as the Thousand Sunny came up behind them. Taking hold of the rope thrown over the side, the two scrambled over the deck to see Nami waiting for them with a raised eyebrow.

"Well?" Usopp dug in his bag and pulled out a tiny Den Den Mushi, black in color and sleeping soundly. Sanji swooned at the approval showing on Nami's face, even if it was for Usopp. Usopp handed her the snail.

"Coordinated to Smoker's Mushi. Any orders he gets from Sengoku will be picked up at any time!" Nami nodded.

"Great! This should give us an upper hand in the future." She then whirled and began shouting orders to Franky. "Franky! Turn the helm to north by northwest! Brooke! Keep a scope trained on the ship for any signs of pursuit! Sanji! Usopp!" Nami turned and looked the sopping wet boys critically. "... Get changed into something dry. Chopper will have a fit if you catch cold."

Sanji noodled. "Nami-swan is so generous with her concern~!" He then flitted away to do as he was told, followed slowly by a exasperated Usopp.

Nami turned back to her maps, looking up as Lin came up behind her.

"We're going to your island, right?" Nami nodded at Lin's question. Lin grinned. "You must be happy." Nami smiled slightly.

"It'll be nice to see home again, I'll admit. We'll just have to be discreet because of the marine base they added to Cocoyashi." When Nami pointed the spot on the map, Lin frowned and looked closer.

"That's... bad." Nami began to nod and Lin shook her head. "Well, that kind of bad too. But mostly bad planning on the marine's part." Lin pointed a finger to Logue Town, marked not too far from Cocoyashi. "Doesn't that place already have a major base? It's strategical to put a marine base near the one in Logue Town, but because the two are so close to the entrance of the Grand Line, where pirates would travel constantly, both are likely to be attacked at the same time to guarantee safe passage." Nami frowned at Lin's guess.

"I suppose you're right... I assume they simply wanted backup for Logue Town's base. Either way, we need to avoid it. One wrong move and we'll have swarms from both bases flooding Commi Island." Lin nodded, then smiled.

"Well, it could be worse, right?"

Nami only smiled back.

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Tashigi stood next to Smoker as the two surveyed the damage to their ship. An explosion in the storage, decimating their gunpowder supply, marines knocked out left and right, and an untouched kitchen. And a ship that would still sail. The usual sign of a Mugiwara attack.

Damn if Smoker couldn't admit that they did a fine job. They would have been great marines in another life.

"Smoker-san?" Tashigi asked carefully at her superior's smirk. Smoker only sighed and shook his head.

"I suppose I'll need to report in a mission failure." He turned to go below deck, but was followed by Tashigi.

"Sir!" Smoker turned to see Tashigi staring at him incredulously, the book from before still in her arms. "Are... are you sure about this?"

Are you sure you want to throw away everything in the marines? For them?

Smoker eyed his subordinate, taking in the book in her hands with a mild curiosity, but noting her stance and the glint in her eye. She was sure about it. She only wanted to be sure he was too.

"Tashigi..." He reached forward and tugged the book from her hands, looking at the cover with interest. A history book from another dimension? Interesting. He began to flip through the pages. "There are times of war in the world, where you're either on one side, or on the other. Usually it's not too obvious which is the good side to be on, seeing how both sides believe the other to be the bad ones." Smoker paused and stared minutely at a picture of a man in a boat, leading his troops to victory against a king. "In the world, the only thing to do is to fight for your own ideals, to place trust in your way of thinking." Smoker looked up and regarded Tashigi with a hard stare. "In that sense, the world will be black and white. Because in times of war, there's very little room for shades of gray. Are _you_ sure, Commodore Tashigi?"

Tashigi stood with wide eyes for all of two seconds before saluting. "Without a doubt, Smoker-san."

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

URGH THIS CHAPTER IS FAIL. AND SHORT. But I needed to get it out, because we need to move on in life! Plot development, anyone? Hmmm?

Anyway, thanks to TheDML, Allycat18, eternitybeckons, QuietInsomniac, Lethargic Girl, Jasmin Liertha, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, Android Kaeli, kyara yukai, and serihppas for your reviews! WE'VE HIT PAST THE ONE HUNDRED MARK! *dies* Thank you all so much! And congrats to QuietInsomniac for getting the 100th review! You guys all rock!

And don't worry everyone! I will finish this story no matter what, school will only slow me down, not stop me! W00T.

See y'all next chapter, in time for the start of the Commi Island (as I believe it's called) arc!

Linhae, OUT.

PS: Have you guys read the profile for this story's sequel on my profile? If so, the last scene will make a lot more sense. The next story is called **Black and White**. Be sure to check that out sometime! :D


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